As readers of this blog know, contested offers, proxy fights, and activist campaigns produce heated exchanges between the parties involved. The latest round in the DuPont/Trian exchange is from DuPont, filed with the SEC yesterday. This is management's defense of its record and counter claims against Trian and occurs in a letter to shareholders. See DuPont's response.
As the letter indicates, DuPont has outperformed the market in the last one, three and five year periods. What remains unclear, however, is what additional value can be obtained through the actions Trian proposes, namely splitting up the company. It is difficult to defend against projected 'what ifs' and admittedly, the track record of activists in general, is positive in terms of creating value. In many cases where activists attack, however, the target has been underperforming. That certainly isn't the case with DuPont. In Star Wars, the Empire represented the villains. That's not clear here. Stay tuned.
All the best,
Ralph
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