Disney makes fresh appeal to shareholders in battle with Peltz

Disney has made another appeal to shareholders not to support activist investor Nelson Peltz’s move to secure places on the studio’s board for himself and Jay Rasulo.

Disney’s latest letter to its stockholders, which also calls for a rejection of nominees for the board from another investor, Blackwells, cited the company’s strong first-quarter FY24 results and “significant steps Disney is taking as it successfully executes a strategic transformation”.

Disney reiterated its position that neither Peltz nor Rasulo, nor Blackwells nominees  Craig Hatkoff, Jessica Schell and Leah Solivan, had “the appropriate range of talent, skill, perspective and/or expertise to effectively support the Board’s ongoing efforts to drive profitable growth and shareholder value creation in the face of continuing, industry-wide challenges”.

Disney highlighted its year-on-year income growth, a 49% increase in earnings per share, and the fact that the company is on track to generate US$8 billion in free cash-flow in the current fiscal full year among reasons why shareholders should continue to back its management.

The company has also declared a 50% increase in the January 2024 dividend it will pay to shareholders in July and a targeted US$3 billion share buyback plan.

Following Disney’s results announcement last week CEO Bob Iger took to the airwaves to slam Peltz’s attempts to secure board representation, leading Peltz’s Trian Partners to respond by describing Disney’s moves as “déjà vu all over again”.