The Dow Jones Index jumps more than 500 points as November comes to a close

Nelson Peltz’s acting battle with Disney heats up (again)

Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management is moving forward with a proxy fight at Disney (DIS).

The hedge fund activist in A press release On Thursday morning, Disney made an offer to Trian to meet with the board but declined her latest request for representation, including Peltz himself. The company said it now intends to take its case directly to shareholders.

According to a source familiar with the matter, Trian is seeking multiple seats on the Disney board. Peltz has an ally in former Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter, who has entrusted his stake in the company to Trian.

“Disney’s stock price has underperformed its agent peers and the broader market over every relevant period over the past decade and over the tenure of each current director. Investor confidence is low, key strategic questions loom, and even Disney’s CEO acknowledges that challenges What the company faces is “bigger than previously thought,” Trian said.

Disney cited its cost-cutting efforts last year in a statement in response.

“Over the past 12 months, we have restructured the company to restore innovation to the heart of all our businesses as we significantly reduce costs and increase efficiencies, and we are on track to achieve cost savings of approximately $7.5 billion – $2 billion more than our company Original Target,” the company said.

Disney also noted that Perlmutter owns 78% of the shares that Peltz claims beneficial ownership, which amounts to more than 25 million of the 33 million shares.

“This dynamic is relevant to evaluating Mr. Peltz and any other candidates he may put forward as directors, as Mr. Perlmutter was terminated from his position by Disney earlier this year and has expressed his long-standing personal agenda against Disney’s CEO, Robert A. Iger,” Disney said. “. Which may be different from those of all other shareholders.”

Trian’s statement comes a day after Disney announced… SEC filings James Gorman, Chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley, along with Jeremy Darroch, former Chairman of the British television company Sky, will join its Board of Directors early next year.

“While James Gorman and Sir Jeremy Darroch represent an improvement on the status quo, the addition of these directors, in our view, will not restore investor confidence or address the root cause of the massive value destruction and mistakes this board has overseen.” Trian said.

Disney shares were flat in afternoon trading Thursday. The stock is down about 6% since the beginning of the year, and is down about 20% since the end of Peltz’s previous proxy fight in February.

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