Payroll giant ADP rebuffs Bill Ackman’s boardroom bid

AMERICAN payroll giant ADP has rejected an attempt by Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square to add candidates to its board, saying the nominees – including Mr Ackman himself – would not be an improvement.

Tensions have been rising between the billionaire activist investor and the US company in recent weeks, with Mr Ackman’s investment fund last week issuing a 168-page report calling for major change at the “lethargic and inefficient sleeping giant” in which it recently disclosed an 8pc stake.

Pershing Square, which listed on the London Stock Exchange in May, said earlier this month that it wanted to add three candidates to ADP’S board including Mr Ackman, part of its push for a shake-up of the firm.

However ADP, which has a market capitalisation of almost $50bn (£39bn), said yesterday that none of the nominees would “bring additive skills or experience” to its existing 10-person board, which it intends to re-elect.

“Adding Mr Ackman’s nominees would not be an improvement,” said the group’s chairman John Jones. “Unlike Mr Ackman’s nominees, ADP’S directors have a deep understanding and appreciation of the current state of ADP’S business and its clients.”

His comments add to a deepening hostility between the two sides, with ADP chief executive Carlos Rodriguez calling the hedge fund manager’s push for leadership changes like that of a “spoiled brat” during a television interview earlier this month.

Pershing then said in a filing last week that Mr Rodriguez had accidentally sent Mr Ackman an email saying he did not find the investor’s willingness to work with him credible. The email was intended for ADP’S general counsel, the filing said.

Pershing’s first set of half-year numbers since listing in London were also unveiled last week, with the group noting that some good investments had been overshadowed by losses in several holdings including weight-loss company Herbalife.