Activist investor Nelson Peltz’s firm Trian has reiterated that its proxy battle with Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS, ETR:WDP) is about the company’s board, not about CEO Bob Iger and his leadership, but has reportedly withheld its votes for Iger’s board re-election.
Ahead of Disney’s annual shareholder meeting being held on April 3, Trian has been campaigning to get two seats on Disney’s 12-person board.
To date, Trian has been publicly lobbying for shareholders to withhold votes from Disney’s board nominees Michael Froman and Maria Elena Lagomasio and to instead vote for Peltz and former Disney executive Jay Rasulo.
But, according to a CNBC report, Trian has voted to withhold support for Iger. The report cited “sources who monitor the situation.”
Trian declined CNBC’s request for comment. The firm said in a statement on Monday that it supports Iger as a board candidate and as CEO.
“That Disney spends so much time and ink defending Mr. Iger, while saying almost nothing about the two director candidates whose re-election Trian is challenging, is both troubling and telling,” it said.
“This campaign is about the board. Trian believes Disney’s problems lay at the feet of the board, which lacks focus, alignment and accountability.”
Trian, when combined with the stake held by former Marvel Entertainment chairman and CEO Ike Perlmutter who has backed Peltz in the proxy battle, owns about 1.5% of Disney.
Meanwhile, Blackwells Capital on Monday urged Disney shareholders to back its nominees Tribeca Film Festival founder Craig Hatkoff, former Warner Bros. and NBCUniversal executive Jessica Schell and TaskRabbit founder Leah Solivan, not Peltz and Rasulo.
“The board does not need nominees driven by personal grievances or animus towards management, as we believe Trian Partners’ nominees Nelson Peltz and Jay Rasulo are,” it said in a statement titled “Nelson Peltz is not the change Disney’s board needs.”
“Recently, Mr. Peltz has made a series of disturbing public statements that Blackwells believes are an affront to Disney’s customers, employees and shareholders, and ultimately should disqualify him from sitting on the Disney board,” it added.
Blackwells and its affiliates own roughly $15 million of Disney stock, compared to the approximately $3 billion controlled by Peltz.