Call it the Battle of the White Cards versus the Blue and Green Cards.
The Walt Disney Co. is encouraging shareholders to vote the white card in the proxy fight going on between the company and activist investors.
The white card selects the 12 board of director nominees put up by Disney for re-election at the annual shareholder meeting that takes place on April 3.
In a Feb. 1 letter to shareholders, the board of the Burbank-based entertainment and media giant asked that they not vote for the candidates indicated on the blue card, from the Trian Fund Management, or the candidates on the green card, who are from Blackwells Capital LLC.
“Please disregard and discard those cards,” the letter said.
Trian is the private equity firm run by Nelson Peltz, who holds approximately $3 billion in Disney shares. In a letter to shareholders also sent on Feb.1, Peltz encouraged them to vote for him and Jay Rasulo, the former Disney chief financial officer, as new independent members of the board.
Rasulo owns about $600,000 in Disney shares.
“Despite Disney’s enviable and unique position in media and entertainment, its stock price is half what it was less than three years ago, and Disney shareholders – like you and us – have collectively lost nearly $200 billion of our investment in that time,” Peltz’s letter said. “Disney’s recent creative efforts have disappointed its once-loyal customer base and have caused losses for shareholders.”
Blackwells, meanwhile, encouraged shareholders to vote for its own slate of board candidates – Jessica Schell, Craig Hatkoff and Leah Solivan – and to reject Peltz and Rasulo.
Schell has extensive experience in the entertainment, technology and retail industries as an executive with Warner Brothers Discovery and NBC Universal. Hatkoff brings real estate expertise and some entertainment experience as well; he was a cofounder of the Tribeca Film Festival. Solivan, meanwhile, is a tech entrepreneur and…
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