Barington Capital calls for TriMas to consider range of strategic alternatives

Barington Capital Group, L.P. and its affiliates, including The Eastern Company (EML), which collectively own approximately 1.5% of TriMas Corporation (TRS), has sent a letter to the Chairman of the Board of TriMas, Herbert Parker, recommending the Company consider a range of alternatives to improve shareholder value. Since the release of Barington’s prior letter on December 12, 2023, TriMas has delivered a total shareholder return of +4.6% versus the Company’s Proxy Statement peers1 and the Russell 2000, which have delivered total shareholder returns of +26.8% and +19.1%, respectively. James Mitarotonda, Chairman of Barington, said, “Unfortunately, this recent period of underperformance is merely the continuation of what has been a long-term problem. As stated in our prior letter, TriMas’ total shareholder return has materially lagged its peers and the market as a whole over the past 1-, 3-, 5-, 7- and 10-year periods. It appears to us that TriMas’ multi-segment structure has done little to benefit stockholders.” TriMas currently trades at 8.6x NTM consensus EBITDA – a multiple well below what the Company’s Packaging and Aerospace segments are worth, according to Barington’s analysis. Barington notes that the aerospace sector continues to consolidate due to the robust outlook for travel and defense demand. In addition, a few of TriMas’ multi-segment industrial peers have recently been acquired. In both cases, the multiples paid for the target companies were at substantial premiums to TriMas’ current NTM consensus EBITDA multiple. For these reasons, Barington sees two compelling alternatives that the TriMas Board should immediately pursue to improve shareholder value – sell the Aerospace segment or sell the entire Company. Mr. Mitarotonda continued, “After many years of attempting to create value for shareholders, which has largely been ineffective, we believe it is imperative that the Board promptly seek value creating alternatives, either by selling the Aerospace segment or the entire Company.”