— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs
The war of words between Air Products and a couple investor groups is heating up.
Mantle Ridge and D.E. Shaw Group have been seeking changes in management and strategy at the Upper Macungie Township-based company.
In this proxy battle — both sides seeking shareholder votes — Air Products has the edge right now, in my opinion. Corporations usually do. Air Products’ annual meeting will be Jan. 23.
Air Products, which makes helium, hydrogen and other industrial gases, wants to stay the course under Chairman, Chief Executive and President Seifi Ghasemi. The investor groups also want to move on from Ghasemi, who is 80. Air Products says it is looking for Ghasemi’s successor.
Mantle Ridge says shares of Air Products (NYSE:APD) should trade at $425, not the $288.60 the price reached at 10:14 a.m. today. Mantle Ridge raised the rhetoric yesterday by commenting on “integrity.”
Here is the statement Air Products came out with this morning, and below is a cut-and-paste from the release:
LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., Jan. 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Air Products’ (NYSE:APD) Board of Directors today issued the following statement:
Air Products is executing on a rigorous CEO succession plan, announced long before Mantle Ridge and D.E. Shaw started advocating for succession, while refreshing its Board with two highly qualified directors at the 2025 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. The Board has clearly articulated a CEO succession plan to ensure a smooth transition between Mr. Ghasemi and his successor and has committed to providing an announcement of a new President and related timeline for CEO succession no later than March 31, 2025.
Just a few months ago, Mantle Ridge talked about its “…truly profound admiration, gratitude, and affection for Seifi.” Now Mantle Ridge is attempting to impugn Mr. Ghasemi’s reputation with misinformation. We believe Mantle Ridge’s nominees have been selected, not because their experience is superior to or more relevant than our existing nominees, but rather because of pre-existing relationships with Mr. Hilal or status as loyal Hilal supporters in order to enact his short-term agenda. We cannot overlook multiple media reports that Mantle Ridge nominee, Dennis Reilley, reportedly shared confidential board materials with a neighbor while serving on three public company boards, or Mr. Hilal’s judgment in originally proposing Mr. Reilley to replace Mr. Ghasemi as CEO. None of Mantle Ridge’s nominees are as qualified as Air Products’ nominees, and the addition of any one of them could be to the detriment of our shareholders.
Mantle Ridge continuously attempts to manipulate our strong financial results, inaccurately portraying Air Products’ appropriate and industry-standard financial reporting. As fully defined in our Company filings and other materials, Air Products presents profitability metrics in-line with business peers and in a way that enables comparison of our historical performance on a like-for-like basis. The fact remains that the Company has industry leading margins1 and has created $44 billion of shareholder value2 and an 11% Adjusted EPS CAGR since 20143.
The Air Products Board strongly urges shareholders to vote their shares “FOR” ONLY Air Products’ nominees. Please discard any blue proxy card received from Mantle Ridge.
Lehigh Valley News Briefs 