DuPont Names Breen CEO, Removing Interim Tag
09 November 2015 - 2:20PM
Dow Jones News
DuPont Co. named Edward Breen its new chief executive, removing
the interim tag from the role he has held since former CEO Ellen
Kullman stepped down last month.
Ms. Kullman's retirement brought a surprising end to the tenure
of an executive who fended off, at least temporarily, mounting
scrutiny from activist investors.
Mr. Breen has a record of revamping companies. He was CEO of
Tyco International from 2002 to 2012, and oversaw two breakups of
the company, resulting in the spinoffs of Covidien PLC, TE
Connectivity Ltd. and ADT Corp., as well as the merger of Tyco Flow
Control with Pentair Ltd.
On the call after the company announced Ms. Kullman's departure,
Mr. Breen said he planned a "deep dive" into DuPont's cost
structure and capital allocations "to ensure we deliver appropriate
returns for our shareholders."
Ms. Kullman, who had led the company since 2009, took on
billionaire shareholder Nelson Peltz and his Trian Fund Management
LP, which sought board seats and criticized the company and its
leadership for bloated corporate spending and sagging profits.
Ms. Kullman's seven-year tenure atop DuPont was bookended by
tumult. She took the reins as CEO from predecessor Charles Holliday
in January 2009 as the global financial crisis battered industrial
companies, during which time DuPont cut staff and maintained its
dividend.
She steered DuPont further into the food and agriculture
business, acquiring food-ingredient maker Danisco in 2011 for $6.5
billion while selling its specialty coatings business to Carlyle
Group LP for $4.9 billion in 2013. DuPont finished spinning off the
performance chemicals unit in July, after Ms. Kullman and her team
prevailed over Mr. Peltz and Trian in a May 13 shareholder vote
that went down to the wire.
DuPont recently lowered its earnings outlook for this year,
citing the impact on the stronger U.S. dollar and continued
weakening of agricultural markets, mainly Brazil.
Write to Ezequiel Minaya at ezequiel.minaya@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 09, 2015 08:05 ET (13:05 GMT)
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