The management battle between Walt Disney and Wall Street activist investor Nelson Peltz has resumed.
According to the economic media CNBC and the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 30th (local time), the Trian Fund, founded by Peltz, said in a statement earlier in the day that it will hold a new “Proxy Fight” against Disney. The Tran Fund explained that it spoke with Disney CEO Bob Iger and agreed to meet with Disney’s board of directors, but Disney’s board did not accept the fund’s request to participate in the board.
A CNBC source said Peltz’s priority goal is to secure more than two seats on Disney’s board. Disney said the previous day that it had appointed Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman and former Sky CEO Jeremy Darack as new directors. Peltz argued that Disney’s acquisition of them was “advanced in the current situation” but would not restore investor confidence in the company.
In January, Peltz called for a board seat and significant cost savings, foreshadowing the first power of attorney showdown against Disney. He later withdrew from the power of attorney battle when Disney announced plans to make major layoffs and cut costs in February. However, if Disney’s financial performance did not improve, it could return.
According to WSJ, the Tran Fund reported in a November filing with regulators that its holdings were around 34 million shares, or about 1.8% of Disney’s total stake. WSJ said most of the stake was handed over by former Marvel Entertainment Chairman Isaac Perlmutter.
Chairman Perlmutter was the creator of Marvel and became the company’s largest individual shareholder when he sold Marvel to Disney in 2009 for $4 billion (about 5.2 trillion won), but he was dismissed in March after being at odds with CEO Iger over various issues.
In a statement on the day, Disney expressed its perception that the Tran Fund’s power of attorney battle stemmed from former Marvel chairman Perlmutter’s personal resentment. “Pearl Mutter has long expressed a personal agenda for Iger CEO,” Disney said, adding, “This may differ from the agenda of all other shareholders.”
The power of attorney competition is a strategy to secure power of attorney from a large number of shareholders and exercise voting rights at the general shareholders’ meeting, and is used as a means to take away the management rights of the company. In the past, the Tran Fund entered the board of directors by buying stakes in global companies such as Procter & Gamble (P&G) and Wendy’s. Disney’s next shareholders’ meeting has yet to be scheduled.
JULIE KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
