U.S. chemical conglomerate DuPont Co. has defeated an attempt by activist investor Nelson Peltz and his Trian Fund Management L.P. to land seats on the DuPont board.
As reported by Reuters news service, Peltz’s Trian Fund Management had sought four seats on the board, including one for himself, and pushed the company to split its businesses to unlock more value for shareholders. The move was unsuccessful as DuPont re-elected all 12 of its sitting directors, and DuPont said it expected an independent inspector to certify the preliminary voting results shortly.
New York City-based Trian has been urging DuPont to break itself up, saying that efforts already underway at the company to shed some of its businesses were not enough to fix what it once called DuPont’s “underperformance.” Trian called for DuPont to split itself into two firms, one of which would include DuPont’s Performance Materials unit, which supplies nylon, acetal, PBT, copolyester and ethylene copolymers, as well as polyester and nylon film.
After the vote, Peltz told reporters that DuPont had already made important changes at the prompting of Trian, including cost cuts and a share buyback. “We don’t believe these things would have occurred without our involvement,” he said.
