The Story:
Activist investor Nelson Peltz appears to have won a seat on Procter & Gamble’s board on a slim margin of less than 43,000 votes against a P&G director, according to the company.
Over the summer, Peltz sought a board seat after his initial request was rejected, and a widely publicized media battle ensued.
After an October shareholders’ meeting, P&G declared a victory when preliminary votes showed that Peltz had failed to secure a win. A subsequent count of the nearly 2 billion votes cast now leaves Peltz with a winning margin, albeit a slim one.
But the matter is far from being resolved even after costing $65 million.
This Happened:
First, P&G said it won, then Peltz challenged it for a winning outcome, and now P&G has left its options open to contesting it.
Peltz moved quickly to claim the victory on Wednesday and asked P&G to let him in the boardroom, but the Cincinnati consumer giant did not concede, saying that though Mr. Peltz is leading, the tally was subject to a challenge period and was still preliminary.
According to a person familiar with the matter, P&G is still mulling over challenging the results of the independent recount. On Wednesday, P&G issued this statement:
“The results are still preliminary and are subject to a review and challenge period during which both parties will have the opportunity to review the results for any discrepancies.”
You can watch CNBC’s reporting here:
