Oregon Public Broadcasting

Vancouver based exercise equipment manufacturer, Nautilus, announced Monday that shareholders have voted to oust four board members.  Kristian Foden-Vencil reports.

The board members will be replaced by four executives put forward by the New York hedge fund ‘Sherborne Investors,’ which has bought about 25 percent of the company’s stock.

The vote is considered a loss for the former Nautilus board, which had tried to expand by buying up new brands like Schwin bikes and Stairmaster.

But the expansion plans haven’t been embraced by Wall Street and the company’s share price has lost about two-thirds of its value over the last two years.

Nautilus’s new chairman, Robert Falcone, a former Nike executive, has laid-off about 140 workers and put the company’s ‘Pearl Izumi Apparel’ division up for sale.

But the turn around hasn’t been fast enough for Sherborne and many other shareholders.