A recount of Procter & Gamble Co.'s board of director votes shows that Nelson Peltz, Trian Fund Management's founding partner and CEO, is leading incumbent director Ernesto Zedillo by about 42,780 shares, 0.0016% of shares outstanding, P&G announced Wednesday.
The results are still preliminary and subject to a review and challenge period for both P&G and Trian, P&G said in a news release. Final results from IVS Associates, the independent inspector of elections for this vote, are expected in the coming weeks.
P&G originally announced Oct. 10 that Mr. Peltz was not elected to the company's board of directors at its 2017 shareholder meeting. An 8-K filed by P&G on Oct. 16 showed Mr. Peltz losing to Mr. Zedillo by about 6.15 million votes. Trian on Oct. 10 said the results were too close to call and that it would wait for the certified results by the independent inspector of elections.
In a statement Wednesday, Trian said it "strongly urges P&G to accept the inspector's tabulation and not waste further time and shareholder money contesting the outcome of the annual meeting."
Leading up to the Oct. 10 shareholder meeting, Mr. Peltz argued that P&G suffered from a bloated structure and a lack of new brands favored by younger shoppers. While he didn't call for the replacement of CEO David Taylor or a breakup of the company, Mr. Peltz did suggest reorganizing the maker of Tide and Pampers into three largely autonomous units.
Trian has a roughly $3.5 billion stake in P&G.
On Oct. 6, P&G, the largest company to ever be targeted by an activist in a proxy fight,issued a statement against Mr. Peltz's election, arguing that his timing was late because the company was already "in the middle of a successful transformation that is delivering results" and that his suggestions lacked substance.
According to their proxy-voting disclosures, the $215.3 billion California State Teachers' Retirement System, $146 billion Texas Teacher Retirement System, $195.6 billion Florida State Board of Administration, C$326.5 billion ($257.4 billion) Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and C$180.5 billion Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan all supported Trian's proxy fight with the consumer goods manufacturer.
Proxy-advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis had recommended that shareholders elect Mr. Peltz to P&G's board.
Bloomberg contributed to this story.
