DuPont criticises activist Trian as proxy fight gets uglier

DuPont Tuesday attacked activist Trian Fund Management for distorting its record as the two sides compete for shareholder support ahead of a proxy vote this spring.
The chemical giant charged Trian with launching a proxy fight "based on misrepresentations, inaccurate data and flawed analysis to distract from DuPont's track record of strong performance," it said in a letter to shareholders.
Trian, which is led by Nelson Peltz, has nominated Peltz and three others to the DuPont board. The annual meeting is expected to take place this spring.
Tuesday's letter outlined steps DuPont has taken to return billions of dollars to shareholders, simplify the company's strategy and position it to capitalize on its research advances in chemicals and agriculture technology.
DuPont highlighted a series of "myths" that Trian has advanced, such as a claim that the chemical company has only made changes when faced with shareholder pressure.
The company has a "well-documented record of taking decisive action since 2009," well before Trian entered the stock,  it said.
DuPont also accused Trian of employing misleading data in producing analyses showing billions in excessive costs and a decline in earings-per-share the last three years.
DuPont's broadside came after Trian last week backed off a demand to split the company in two but amplified a call to elect the Trian slate to the board.
Trian, which holds about a three percent stake in DuPont, said in a February 11 letter to shareholders that the company's performance has been "poor," but that "Dupont can be great" with changes that begin with electing its nominees.
DuPont shares were up 0.3 percent to $76.40 in midday trade.