(Reuters) -Walt Disney said on Wednesday investment firm ValueAct Capital will advise it on strategy and support its director nominees at the 2024 annual shareholder meeting.
The agreement with San Francisco-based ValueAct, known for working collaboratively with target companies, bodes well for Disney ahead of what is expected to a be a bitter proxy battle with another activist investor, Nelson Peltz.
“ValueAct has a track record of collaboration and cooperation with the companies it invests in and its co-CEO Mason Morfit has been very constructive in the conversations we’ve had over the past year,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said.
Iger spent much of last year overhauling the business and grappling with demands from Peltz’s Trian Fund Management.
Peltz has nominated himself and an ally to Disney’s board, positioning themselves as the people the media and entertainment giant needs now to cut costs, lay out a succession plan and revamp the company’s loss-making streaming operations.
His investment firm, Trian Fund Management, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
ValueAct has known the Disney team for more than a decade and has been in contact with management as it built its stake over the last months, sources told Reuters in November.
It sees room for the company’s stock price to roughly double, the sources had said.
Source:reuters