DuPont heats up its war of words with activist investor Peltz’s Trian
US CHEMICAL giant DuPont yesterday hit back in a proxy battle with activist investor Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management, who had demanded that it split into three separate firms.
DuPont said the fight could “disrupt our company” at a key stage of development.
Trian last week nominated four directors to DuPont for election at the company’s annual meeting, normally held in April.
Trian, which owns a $1.6bn (£1.05bn) stake in DuPont, went public in September with a demand that the company split itself into firms catering to chemicals, agriculture and industrial materials.
DuPont said despite making “numerous efforts to engage constructively” with Trian, the chemicals firm said the fund managers had chosen “this path with the potential to disrupt our company at a key stage of execution against our plan”.