Dissident Investors Elect 3 to Bally Fitness Board

Two activist hedge funds succeeded Thursday in electing three candidates to the board of Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp. but failed in a bid to remove Paul Toback as chairman and chief executive, the company said after its annual meeting.

Chicago-based Bally, the largest U.S. fitness center operator, said Charles Burdick, Barry Elson and Don Kornstein appeared to have been elected to Bally’s board, based on preliminary results. Final results are expected within two weeks.

All three were proposed by Liberation Investment Group of Los Angeles and Pardus Capital Management of New York, the company’s largest two shareholders, which have been locked in a battle with management.

Lead director John W. Rogers Jr. said Bally continued to have unanimous support for Toback and his management team, saying they had “worked tirelessly to correct the mistakes of the past.”

Bally shares rose 1 cent to $7.80.