MOSCOW (MRC) -- DuPont Co.’s army of retail shareholders proved decisive in the defeat of veteran activist investor Nelson Peltz’s attempt to get on the board and split up the 212-year-old chemical company, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.
All DuPont’s director nominees were elected, it said Wednesday at its annual meeting in Wilmington, Delaware. Peltz’s Trian Fund Management, which had sought four board seats, said the vote was "close." The final count hasn’t been disclosed. DuPont shares fell as much as 7%.
The outcome is a decisive victory for DuPont CEO Ellen Kullman following a five-month-long proxy fight. Both tried to muster votes via advertisements in local and national media. About one-third of DuPont shareholders are private individuals such as retired former employees, compared with about 10% at most other companies, the company said last month.
"We got retail investors’ attention this time," Kullman told reporters at DuPont’s Chestnut Run Plaza office complex after Wednesday’s meeting was adjourned. While such shareholders rarely vote, when they do they’re usually supportive of incumbent management, she said.
Peltz, 72, told reporters separately that Trian had support from some institutional investors but it could have done better with retail shareholders and index funds.
DuPont "clearly did a better job with the retail shareholder who clearly doesn’t understand the issues," he said. "They did a better job scaring people."
Trian had spent much of the past two years criticizing DuPont’s financial performance, arguing that the company was too complex and bureaucratic and would be better off split into two. The failure of its DuPont campaign is the first since Peltz’s firm was established a decade ago.
As MRC informed earlier, DuPont Co. said first-quarter profit declined from the previous year, as revenues dropped amid adverse currency and decreased volumes. The company now expects higher-than-previously estimated negative currency impact in 2015, and as a result sees full year earnings at the low end of its prior outlook.
DuPont is an American chemical company that was founded in July, 1802. The company manufactures a wide range of chemical products, leading extensive innovative research in this field. The company is the inventor of many unique plastics and other materials, including neoprene, nylon, Teflon, Kevlar, Mylar, Tyvek, etc. DuPont was the developer and main producer of Freon used in the production of refrigeration equipment.
MRC