Ackman's Pershing Square loses ADP proxy battle
William Ackman
ROSELAND  N.J. (Reuters)  - Activist hedge fund manager William Ackman  lost  his  bid to win seats on the board of Automatic Data Processing Inc (ADP.O)  according to a shareholder voting tally read at the payroll processorâs annual shareholder meeting.
William ' Bill' Ackman   CEO and Portfolio Manager of Pershing Square Capital Management  speaks during the Sohn Investment Conference in New York City  U.S.  May 8  2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Pershing Square did not get any of its three nominees  including  Ackman   elected to ADPâs board  with less than 25 percent of voting shares pledged in support of his proxy campaign.
 Ackman  told Reuters at the meeting that the way the proxy system works put him at a disadvantage  but he felt he accomplished a lot.
 Ackman  launched the ADP proxy contest as an underdog  taking aim at a company engaged in the unglamorous business of providing human resources technology and largely backed by Wall Street. ADPâs share price has more than doubled under Rodriguezâs tenure  and  the company  has posted relatively solid earnings growth.
For three months   Ackman  and ADP have traded increasingly bitter barbs through securities filings  television appearances  conference calls  webcasts and private meetings with investors.
 Ackman  contends that management complacency has turned ADP into an inefficient corporate slugabed pushing outmoded products that even a top sales force could not sell. ADP has countered that  Ackman  brings no new ideas to the table  risks disrupting  the companyâs  steady path to growth and behaves like a âspoiled brat.â
 Ackman âs Pershing Square owns almost 2 percent of ADPâs common shares  making  it  the seventh-largest voting shareholder  according to Thomson Reuters data. When counting unexercised options  the value of the stake is roughly $2.3 billion.
ROSELAND   [TGT] lost   [TGT]   bid to win seats on the board of Automatic Data Processing Inc (ADP.O)  according to a shareholder voting tally read at the payroll processorâs annual shareholder meeting.
William ' Bill' Ackman   CEO and Portfolio Manager of Pershing Square Capital Management  speaks during the Sohn Investment Conference in New York City  U.S.  May 8  2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Pershing Square did not get any of its three nominees  including  Ackman   elected to ADPâs board  with less than 25 percent of voting shares pledged in support of his proxy campaign.
 Ackman  told Reuters at the meeting that the way the proxy system works put him at a disadvantage  but he felt he accomplished a lot.
 Ackman  launched the ADP proxy contest as an underdog  taking aim at a company engaged in the unglamorous business of providing human resources technology and largely backed by Wall Street. ADPâs share price has more than doubled under Rodriguezâs tenure  and  the company  has posted relatively solid earnings growth.
For three months   Ackman  and ADP have traded increasingly bitter barbs through securities filings  television appearances  conference calls  webcasts and private meetings with investors.
 Ackman  contends that management complacency has turned ADP into an inefficient corporate slugabed pushing outmoded products that even a top sales force could not sell. ADP has countered that  Ackman  brings no new ideas to the table  risks disrupting  the companyâs  steady path to growth and behaves like a âspoiled brat.â
 Ackman âs Pershing Square owns almost 2 percent of ADPâs common shares  making  it  the seventh-largest voting shareholder  according to Thomson Reuters data. When counting unexercised options  the value of the stake is roughly $2.3 billion.