Procter & Gamble has written again to shareholders to highlight the ‘proven leadership, experience and diversity’ of its Board of Directors, in a move to encourage them to deny investor Nelson Peltz a seat on the Board at the forthcoming Annual Meeting of Shareholders.
‘Under the leadership of this Board and management team, P&G has undertaken the most significant transformation in the Company’s history and is executing a winning strategy that is working,’ the letter reads. ‘The P&G Board has the skills and experience to continue successfully overseeing the execution of the plan in place.
‘P&G has done its homework and the overwhelming feedback is clear: Mr. Peltz is not the right Director for the P&G Board.’
Third Party Support
The letter also quotes a number of third parties, which confirm, P&G says, that the ‘execution of our strategy is driving strong results’.
William Blair analyst Jon Andersen is one of those third parties quoted, saying, “Despite global macro uncertainty and muted market growth worldwide, we believe Procter’s portfolio optimisation, cost productivity, and go-to-market capability investments support higher (and better quality) earnings growth; this, coupled with strong cash flow productivity, offers a solid total shareholder return opportunity.”
Proxy Contest
Peltz, of New York hedge fund Trian Fund Management, will seek to gain a seat on the Board by way of a proxy contest at the shareholders meeting, which is scheduled for 10 October.
‘Despite what Mr. Peltz seems to believe, a Board seat is not an entitlement,’ P&G adds in the letter. ‘We have rigorous selection criteria for Board membership, which has produced a highly diverse Board specifically designed to oversee our strategy and with expertise in key areas that we need to continue to win.’
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
