Sealy Corp., the mattress maker that is 45 percent owned byprivate-equity firm KKR & Co., said more than 30 percent of itsshareholders withheld support for three directors after the companyfaced governance criticism.

Gary Morin won 70 percent of votes, and Deborah Ellinger andJames Johnston got 69 percent of votes at Sealy's annualstockholders meeting on April 18, the company said in a regulatoryfiling today. ISS and Glass Lewis & Co., two shareholderadvisory services, had recommended “no” votes for the threedirectors last month.

“Ellinger, Johnston and Morin served as members of thecompensation committee during the past fiscal year, during whichtime the company failed to adequately link pay with performance,”Glass Lewis said in a March 19 report. “We are concerned that thecompensation committee has not provided adequate rationale.”