Honeywell to Add Elliott Executive to Its Board Ahead of Breakup
The activist investor revealed a more than $5 billion stake in the conglomerate late last year
Key Points
- Honeywell is expected to add Elliott Investment Management’s Marc Steinberg to its board at the end of May.
- Appointment comes with cooperation agreement with Honeywell, which is splitting into three companies.
- Marc Steinberg is already on the boards of Etsy and Pinterest. Elliott last year revealed a more than $5B stake in Honeywell.
Honeywell International HON 2.00%increase; green up pointing triangle is expected to add an executive from activist investor Elliott Investment Management to its board ahead of Honeywell’s split into three companies, according to people familiar with the matter.
The details
Later Wednesday, Honeywell is set to appoint Marc Steinberg, a partner at Elliott, as an independent director and audit committee member, effective at the end of this month, the people said.
The appointment comes with a cooperation agreement between the industrial conglomerate and Elliott, the people said. The agreement will give Honeywell standard protections around confidentiality and other matters for a set period, they added.
Elliott revealed late last year that it had amassed a more than $5 billion stake in Honeywell and called on the company to break itself apart.
In recent months, Steinberg has shared constructive insights and fostered a collaborative relationship with Honeywell Chief Executive Vimal Kapur, the people familiar with the matter added. He has been at Elliott since 2015 and is responsible for public and private-equity investments across a number of industries.
Steinberg previously worked at the boutique investment bank Centerview Partners. He currently sits on the boards of Etsy and Pinterest, as well as two private companies, Syneos Health and Nielsen Holdings.
The context
In a letter sent to Honeywell’s board late last year, Elliott called for many changes centered on simplification that could create greater value for shareholders. It didn’t explicitly ask for board seats.
Honeywell, which has a market value of around $145 billion, is separating its aerospace division from its automation business, and spinning off its advanced-materials arm. The breakup is expected to be wrapped up by the second half of next year.
Kapur has been pursuing a string of smaller acquisitions to bolster certain Honeywell divisions, particularly in aerospace and defense, which has experienced stronger growth lately. (Elliott has said a stand-alone Honeywell aerospace business could be worth well over $100 billion.)
Honeywell in late April raised its full-year guidance for earnings per share, saying it will use pricing and other actions to protect its bottom line in President Trump’s trade war.
Elliott, meanwhile, just wrapped up a heated boardroom battle at the oil refiner Phillips 66, winning two of the four board seats it wanted.
Elliots’s stake in Honeywell is one of the firm’s largest investments ever.