Activist investor Nelson Peltz and his firm, Trian Partners, are seeking two seats on Disney’s board, raising the prospect for a renewed proxy fight.
“This morning, following conversations with Disney’s CEO, Disney extended an offer to Trian to meet with the board but informed Trian that the board is turning down Trian’s recent request for board representation, including Nelson Peltz,” Trian said in a statement.
Peltz, with control of ,a Disney stake estimated at $2.5 billion, is one of the entertainment giant’s largest shareholders, pulled back on a proxy battle in February after CEO Bog Iger announced $3 billion in cost cutting at the entertainment giant.
He waited to see Disney’s quarterly results earlier this month before a widely expected effort to renew his quest for seats on the board.
“Since we gave Disney the opportunity to prove it could ‘right the ship’ last February, up to our re-engagement weeks ago, shareholders lost ~$70 billion of value,” Trian’s statement Thursday continued. “Disney’s share price has underperformed proxy peers and the broader market over every relevant period during the last decade and over the tenure of each incumbent director.”
“Investor confidence is low, key strategic questions loom, and even Disney’s CEO is acknowledging that the company’s challenges are greater than previously believed,” the statement continued.
The effort comes the day after Disney added two new board members: former Sky TV CEO D. Jeremy Darroch and Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman to its board, a move CNBC said was “widely seen as a bid to fend off a potential challenge from Peltz.”
Trian said in its statement that Gorman and Darroch “represent an improvement from the status quo,” but added that these new directors “will not, in our view, restore investor confidence or address the root cause behind the significant value destruction and missteps that this board has overseen.”
Trian said it plans to “take our case for change directly to shareholders,” indicating a new proxy battle.
This is a developing story, more to come
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