Better ends fight over Garg-led bid to oust directors, restore his leadership

Better Home & Finance Holding Company will not challenge the consent solicitation led by founder Vishal Garg to remove five incumbent directors and return him to a leadership role, the company said Monday. The decision was made by a special committee of Better’s board of directors, which had overseen the company’s response to the campaign. The committee is, in practice, ending the challenge to a preliminary report from an independent inspector of elections, saying the decision is in the best interests of the company and its stockholders due to the cost and uncertainty of a prolonged contest. Garg, who was removed as CEO by Better’s board in early August and replaced on an interim basis by activist investor Daniel Lewis, launched a consent solicitation to remove five directors: Lewis, Harit Talwar, Arnaud Massenet, Bhaskar Menon and Prabhu Narasimhan. In a September 20 filing, Garg claimed to have the majority of shareholders’ written consent in support of the solicitation. In a separate statement on Monday, Garg and The Garg Group said the committee had “decided to heed the will of shareholders.” Garg’s group said it intends to add two new directors to the board: Bing Gordon an...