P&G shareholders to pick board of directors today

Hedge fund manager Nelson Peltz seeking a seat, new director.

The finish is in sight for the most expensive corporate proxy fight in history.

Procter & Gamble’s shareholder vote will be announced today at the company’s annual shareholder meeting at its downtown Cincinnati complex.

P&G has asked shareholders to approve a slate of 11 nominees for its board of directors. But a New York-based activist investor and hedge fund manager, Nelson Peltz, is angling for a seat on P&G’s board — and a new direction for the company, which oversees some of the biggest household brands in the world, such as Tide, Pampers, Crest toothpaste and many others.

With every passing day, it seems the stakes in the fight get only higher. It’s a “battle for the future of big brands,” the Wall Street Journal is saying.

Peltz appears to be winning support. Last week, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, which has some 5.6 million shares of P&G stock (NYSE: PG), said it was supporting Peltz. The retirement system has been an investor with Peltz’ firm, Trian Fund Management, since 2011.

The system describes itself as the world’s largest educator-only pension fund. Peltz says he has also picked up the backing of a trio of shareholder advisory firms.

Meanwhile, a founding partner at Trian, Ed Garden, has won a seat on the board of another big Ohio employer, General Electric Co., the Wall Street Journal reported.

Both sides — P&G and Peltz — have spent around $60 million in a campaign to win votes.

With more than $65 billion in revenue and more than 95,000 employees worldwide, P&G is a huge employer in Ohio and the Dayton-Cincinnati corridor.

The company has a business center in Mason with more than 1,500 workers. A 1.7 millionsquare-foot distribution hub for P&G products opened near the Dayton International Airport in Union nearly three years ago.

More than a third of P&G’s products move s through that Union location where 760 workers are employed.

In all, P&G has about 11,000 Ohio employees, with about 10,000 employees in the Cincinnati area and about 3,400 in downtown Cincinnati.

EDMUND D. FOUNTAIN / THE NEW YORK TIMES Procter & Gamble products fill the shelves at the home of P&G retiree Jim Langendonk in Slidell, La., on Friday. P&G and activist investor Nelson Peltz have inundated shareholders with materials in their proxy fight.