The last year has seen an increase in shareholder activism in
the chemicals and materials sector with varying degrees of success.
In late 2014, the board of chemicals giant Dow Chemical negotiated
a settlement with hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb of Third Point
Management after Loeb threatened a proxy war. The settlement led
to, among other things, two independent Third Point nominees
joining the company's board. Agruim was also targeted last year
by two different activist investors, the first leading to a
10-month proxy fight in which Agrium was ultimately successful.
Most recently, the board of E.I. DuPont de Nemours, a leading
U.S. chemicals and materials conglomerate, was targeted by activist
investor Nelson Peltz of Trian Management. In mid-May, Trian
challenged Dupont's board and, after settlement negotiations
failed, the hedge fund began an aggressive proxy campaign against
the company. Trian nominated four directors to the board and
criticized Dupont's current
