AkzoNobel still under attack

A package of measures introduced by AkzoNobel to diffuse tension with its largest shareholder, the hedge fund Elliott Advisors, has fallen short. Rather than back off, Elliott is pushing for its legal right to introduce a motion at AkzoNobel’s extraordinary general meeting on Sept. 8 so it can vote for the dismissal of the firm’s chair, Antony Burgmans. Measures introduced by AkzoNobel to improve relations with shareholders include forming a supervisory board committee for shareholder relations and promising more opportunities for investors to meet with senior management. But Elliott remains critical of the Dutch firm’s managers, and Burgmans’s role in particular, for resisting a takeover by U.S. paint rival PPG Industries earlier in the year. Elliott is also unhappy with AkzoNobel’s nomination of Thierry Vanlancker—the firm’s former head of chemicals—as its CEO, after the unexpected resignation of CEO Ton Büchner on July 18.