Shareholders in Nelson Peltz’s U.K.-listed vehicle Trian Investors 1 have voted out the fund’s chairman and installed a new director nominated by a group of investors led by Australian investment firm Global Value Fund.
Trian Investors 1 Chairman Chris Sherwell saw 50.7% of the votes cast at a Friday special meeting approving his removal, according to a regulatory filing. Dissident nominee Robert Legget was elected to the fund’s board with the same votes, while the other four activist proposals failed in a similarly tight ballot. The fund did not say who the new chairman would be.
Activist fund Global Value and three other firms had joined forces to overhaul Trian Investors 1’s board, disgruntled with a recent change in the fund’s investment mandate and the widening discount between the fund’s net asset value (NAV) and its share price. They nominated two directors as replacements for Chairman Sherwell and another two board members.
In a statement Monday, the dissidents expressed confidence “that with a new chairman, steps can be taken to restore the trust and confidence of shareholders in governance and operations” at the fund. The activists added other motions failed because the fund’s manager Trian and financial adviser Jefferies opposed the changes.
Global Value worked with asset managers Invesco, Janus Henderson, and London-based hedge fund Pelham Capital on the campaign, which the proxy target criticized. The four control 44% of Trian Investors 1, the 400-million-pound ($483 million) London-listed vehicle of Nelson Peltz’s Trian.
The special meeting outcome mirrored a voting recommendation from proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis. Rival adviser Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) also endorsed Legget’s election but said he should take the seat of Anita Rival, who narrowly survived the Friday challenge with a 50.3% supporting vote.
Shares in Trian Investors 1 gained 3.1% Friday to close at 149 pence each. The fund’s NAV at the end of June was 156.44 pence per share. At the time, the stock was trading at around 127 pence.