What Procter & Gamble Should Take Away From Its Brawl With Nelson Peltz

One of the costliest proxy battles ever, between activist investor Nelson Peltz and Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG), ended with Peltz losing the right to a board seat by roughly one-third of one percent, at least according to preliminary tallies released this week by Procter & Gamble.

Since neither side can claim a decisive victory, the onus is now on P&G's board to prove that the company will indeed thrive without implementing Peltz's suggestions, which included a reorganization of the company into three global business units, a sharper focus on small and midsize brands, and a more substantive digital advertising approach.

Through Peltz's TV interviews, and his firm Trian Partners' lengthy white paper outlining the case against P&G, one theme appeared to rise to the surface during the lead-up to the proxy vote. Trian asserted that P&G has an extremely insular culture, and that this as much as anything underlies the company's weak shareholder return versus its peers over the last 10 years.

Source: Fool.com