Big investor goes active on J. Alexander’s

An Ohio investment firm that manages more than $6 billion is pushing for major strategic and/or governance changes at J. Alexander’s Holdings, including a sale of the restaurant company — and it isn’t ruling out being part of a buying group.

Ancora Advisors, which was founded in 2003 and is home to more than 70 people, recently filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission changing its status as an investor to active from passive. The firm owns nearly 1.1 million shares of Nashville-based J. Alexander’s and has exposure (via a swaps deal with Jefferies) to another roughly 39,000 shares. Combined, those holdings mean Ancora’s stake amounts to nearly 7.7 percent of J. Alexander’s shares.