Air Products Receives Mantle Ridge Director Nominees Ahead of Shareholder Meeting

APD

By Denny Jacob

Air Products & Chemicals disclosed it received activist investor Mantle Ridge's director nominees.

The industrial-gas manufacturer said it will present its formal recommendations regarding director nominations in due course. The company on Monday said it would nominate Bhavesh V. "Bob" Patel and Alfred Stern to its board, while David H.Y. Ho and Matthew Paull will not seek re-election.

The Wall Street Journal in October reported that Mantle Ridge, run by Paul Hilal, built a more than $1 billion stake in Air Products. Mantle Ridge sought to push Air Products executives on succession planning for Chief Executive Seifi Ghasemi as well as on improvements to the company's strategy and capital allocation, the Journal reported at the time.

Mantle Ridge disclosed in a proxy statement that on Nov. 13 Hilal called Edward Monser, Air Products' lead independent director, to apprise him that the activist would submit a notice seeking shareholder information. Monser in turn indicated he had no authority to engage and that the board had "decided as a group" not to engage with Mantle Ridge.

Mantle Ridge plans to propose nine nominees, which includes Hilal, at Air Products' annual shareholder meeting.

Write to Denny Jacob at denny.jacob@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-19-24 1439ET