Arconic (ARNC) CEO Klaus Kleinfeld has come under attack from a large activist investor seeking to oust him as CEO.
Elliott Management, a $31 billion activist hedge fund led by Paul Singer, recently launched a campaign to remove Kleinfeld. Elliott Management owns more than 12.1% of Arconic’s shares, making the hedge fund the largest shareholder.
At the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit on Wednesday, editor-in-chief Andy Serwer asked Kleinfeld about Elliott Management’s latest letter released Feb. 7.
The letter, in part, said: “In short, we urge the board to do its job. We understand that Dr. Kleinfeld is a uniquely charismatic figure who has leveraged and relied masterfully for years on a deep and intricate web of personal relationships with a number of the company’s longest-standing directors to secure his continued employment notwithstanding his performance. We appreciate the natural and appropriate inclination of new directors to defer to longstanding directors. And we also understand the futility of a board failing to support unanimously a chief executive that it has not yet removed, as to do so would be to undermine the company’s active leader and thereby do actual harm to the enterprise.”
When asked about the hedge fund describing him as “uniquely charismatic,” Kleinfeld responded, “I don’t know, honestly. Loss of words here.”
Referring to the audience’s laughter: “I think the audience is having the right reaction here.”
“It reminds me of this line out of a mafia movie, ‘Klaus, don’t take it personally; it’s just business.”
Kleinfeld said that the facts and track record speak for themselves. He noted that the company will create value. He also added that the company is only two and a half months old.
Arconic shares popped during Kleinfeld’s talk.
Arconic separated from its parent company, aluminum giant Alcoa, back in November. Arconic is a manufacturer of aerospace and automotive materials. Kleinfeld had been CEO of Alcoa since May 2008 and led the company’s turnaround.
Elliott Management doesn’t see it that way
“Arconic operates a world-class collection of assets, that if managed properly with prudent reinvestment of capital, should produce substantial returns for its shareholder owners. However, current management’s persistent failure at these tasks for nearly a decade has destroyed considerable shareholder value. We believe a change of leadership is required to improve performance at Arconic today,” Elliott wrote in an 11-page letter dated Feb. 1.
In that letter, Elliott said that they’ve hired Spirit AeroSystems CEO, Larry Lawson, as a consultant and that they believe he, “has the ideal set of skills needed to lead a turnaround of Arctic’s woefully underperforming business.” They also put forth five nominees to Arconic’s board.
Arconic fired back with a press release on the morning of Feb. 7, pointing out that Elliott has posted “no fewer than five versions of its shareholder presentations — each with significantly restated calculations, industry data sources and valuation analyses.”
“Arconic believes that the rapid succession of revised analyses calls into question Elliott’s grasp of Arconic’s business and industry, and whether Elliott truly understood Arconic and its opportunities prior to launching its proxy fight,” the company wrote.
The board also showed its support for Kleinfeld.
“Arconic’s Board and management team are committed to protecting and advancing the long-term interests of all of Arconic’s shareholders based on sound analysis. The Company believes that Elliott’s shifting numbers, data sources and valuations require thoughtful shareholder scrutiny,” the company said.
On the evening of Feb. 7, Elliott Management sent another letter to Arconic’s board.
In the letter, Elliott continued to tout Larry Lawson as the person with the skill set to turn the company around.
Elliott added that it doesn’t buy the board’s defense of Kleinfeld. Among the criticisms, Elliott doesn’t think Kleinfeld “saved” Alcoa, calling the company’s survival following the 2008 crisis “unremarkable.” Elliott also claimed that under Kleinfeld, Alcoa underperformed its aluminum peers.
Elliott also said that it has the support of at least two of the company’s top-10 largest shareholders and other shareholders.
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Julia La Roche is a finance reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.
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