Svea Herbst-Bayliss
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) said on Friday it had voted to elect Walt as its two director candidates for activist investment firm Trian Fund Management. Disney (NYSE:) in one of the most closely watched and costly battles for corporate control.
“CalPERS believes Walt Disney Co will benefit from a fresh look at its board of directors and voted its company shares in favor of nominees Nelson Peltz and Jay Rasulo,” a US pension fund that owned 6.65 million shares of the entertainment giant at the end of last year. December, reported Reuters.
CalPERS, which is among Walt Disney’s top 30 investors according to LSEG, said its “established voting rules focus on the need for independent corporate boards, voting rights in setting executive pay and increased transparency. Two new directors who are qualified and capable of driving the necessary changes in corporate governance will benefit Disney’s board of directors.”
Shareholders will decide at next week’s annual meeting who will sit in the house of the 12-member Mickey Mouse board and help set strategy as CEO Bob Iger seeks to transform the $224 billion company.
With more major shareholders expected to vote in the coming days, Disney is rushing to reassure investors that there is no need for new blood on the board at a time when the share price has risen and Iger has outlined new initiatives to cut costs and reignite the creative spark companies.
Trian and another hedge fund, Blackwells Capital, which is trying to win three seats on the Disney board, are doing the same, telling investors that the Disney board has failed succession planning for Iger, should make better use of technology and should consider splitting its assets into real estate industry. .
Proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) recommended investors elect Peltz, while its much smaller rival, Egan-Jones, recommended voting for Peltz and Rasulo, the former Disney CFO who was passed over for the entertainment company’s top job. many years ago. Glass Lewis, another consulting firm, suggested investors back all 12 Disney directors.