Walt Disney
is trying out a new tactic to bolster its share price as the battle with Nelson Peltz, the chief executive officer of Trian, continues to rumble.
Disney
on Wednesday said it entered an information-sharing agreement with ValueAct Capital Management, another activist investor, to consult on strategy. ValueAct will support Disney’s board nominees at the entertainment company’s 2024 annual meeting, Disney said in a statement.
The move comes as Disney CEO Bob Iger battles with Peltz, who last month nominated himself and another member of his firm to the board. Peltz has renewed his proxy battle at Disney, which he said has underperformed for too long. One reason for that, he has argued, is because the board is too closely connected to Iger.
Disney is struggling to become more profitable after investing heavily in its streaming platform, Disney+. It’s also working to revive its theme park business after the hit from Covid-19 lockdowns. Critics say that Disney, with its wealth of intellectual property and long history of hit movies such as Frozen and the Lion King, should be doing better.
Disney shares were little changed in premarket trading at $90.77. They’re up 14% over the past three months, but are still lower than a year ago and well below their peak at around $190 reached in early 2021.
Comcast,
a rival media corporation, was up 0.2% in the premarket session.
Warner Bros. Discovery
was down 1.1%.
ValueAct has helped companies manage significant transitions that include
Spotify,
New York Times,
Microsoft,
and
Salesforce,
Disney said in the statement.
Write to Brian Swint at brian.swint@barrons.com
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