Singer’s heavy metal setback

Activist hedge fund Elliott Management suffered a hitch in its push to sell aluminum company Arconic following an unexpected Csuite reshuffling that ousted a major Elliott ally, sources told The Post.

The New York company announced that Chairman John Plant, 65, is taking over as chief executive replacing Elliott ally Charles “Chip” Blankenship, who had held the top spot since last January.

Arconic quietly voted to fire Blankenship in an effort to protect the troubled company against another proxy contest with Elliott, which launched the fight that booted the company’s previous CEO in 2017, a source said.

“If the board is going to validate a decision not to sell, the board probably would want to fire Chip,” the shareholder said.

“Elliott really liked Chip and thought he was the right person to fix these assets,” said an Arconic analyst who requested anonymity.

Arconic and billionaire Paul Singer’s $34 billion hedge fund have been at odds since the board rejected an Elliott-orchestrated bid to sell Arconic to buyout firm Apollo Global Management last month, sources said.

Plant also was supported by Elliott when he joined the board in 2016. But he was recently seen to be the target of a Wall Street phone flurry intended to force Arconic’s board to reopen talks with Apollo. Elliott is Arconic’s single biggest shareholder with an 11 percent stake.

As The Post exclusively reported Wednesday, suspected Elliott-backed bankers, including Jefferies, have been handing out Plant’s personal cell number to Arconic shareholders and requesting they use it to pressure Plant to reopen sales talks.

Elliott did not return calls and Arconic declined to comment.