papa john’s international inc pzza said thursday that jefferey smith ceo of activist investor starboard value lp and chair of its own board has resigned effective march 1 the company named christopher coleman who has been on the board since 2012 as his successor the pizza chain also announced it has entered an agreement to buy back 22 million of its own shares owned by starboard for 8252 a share or a 4 discount over the closing price on wednesday the company will fund the buyback with cash on hand and funds available under its revolving credit facility the buyback leave about 90 million remaining under the company’s current authorization the stock was down 23 premarket and has fallen 205 in the last 12 months while the sp 500 spx has fallen 10