Hawaiian Airlines’ largest shareholder, who has actively been seeking a seat on the company’s board of directors, has gotten his wish.
The state’s largest carrier said Friday it was adding Zac Hirzel, founder and president of Dallas-based Hirzel Capital Management LLC, as Hawaiian’s 12th board member. His appointment as a member of the board for both the airline and its holding company, Hawaiian Holdings Inc., will be effective beginning with the regularly scheduled February board meetings.
Hirzel’s company, which manages a $1 billion global equity portfolio, owns 10.81 percent, or nearly 5.66 million shares, of Hawaiian, which were worth $49.8 million at Friday’s closing price of $8.79.
"Mr. Hirzel has been a champion of Hawaiian’s expansion into Asia and appreciates the value inherent in the overall business," said Mark Dunkerley, president and CEO of Hawaiian, in a statement Friday. "We welcome the expertise that he brings as the newest addition to our board."
Hirzel, 36, has led the private-investment fund Hirzel Capital since June 2008. Prior to founding Hirzel Capital, he was a partner and senior analyst for Precept Capital Management and an associate at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. LLC.
He is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma and holds an M.B.A. with distinction from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University, where he also serves on the school’s advisory board for the Alternative Asset Management Center and is a guest lecturer for the student investment fund.
Hirzel, who has no background in the airline business, has had several discussions with Hawaiian’s management about joining the board since actively accumulating shares earlier this year.
He said in a May 11 letter to the governance and nominating committee of Hawaiian that the airline offers "an intriguing opportunity" and that it is an important time for the company with its ongoing expansion into Asia and the changing environment in the capital markets.
On Wednesday, Hawaiian’s board approved an increase in the size of the board to 12 from 11 and named Hirzel to fill the newly created seat. As a nonemployee director, he will receive an annual retainer of $45,000. He also will receive annual automatic equity grants. Under terms of Hirzel’s appointment, his firm is not allowed to own more than 15 percent of Hawaiian’s stock.
Other board members are Lawrence Hershfield, chairman; Dunkerley; Gregory Anderson; Brian Boyer; Randall Jenson; Bert Kobayashi Jr.; Tomoyuki Moriizumi; Samson Poomaihealani; Crystal Rose; William Swelbar; and Richard Zwern.
Milwaukee-based investment management firm Artisan Partners Holdings is the second-largest shareholder of Hawaiian with 7.80 percent. Dunkerley is the company’s 12th-largest shareholder at 2.39 percent.
