Billionaire Paul Singer is turning up the heat in his activist campaign against Arconic.
In a Wednesday morning letter to shareholders, Singer’s $31 billion hedge fund Elliott Management intensified its push to unseat the aluminum giant’s chief executive, Klaus Kleinfeld.
“The consistent and growing disconnect between Dr. Kleinfeld’s rhetoric and the reality of the business’s performance adds to our and other shareholders’ serious concerns about management’s judgment and grasp of the business,” Dave Miller, portfolio manager of Elliott wrote in the letter.
Elliott has proposed former Spirit AeroSystems CEO Larry Lawson to replace Kleinfeld. It also nominated five members to Arconic’s 12-seat board.
Kleinfeld, meanwhile, on Wednesday defended the metal maker’s performance since spinning off from aluminum producer Alcoa late last year.
“I’m very happy that it’s doing so well,” Kleinfeld told CNBC in an interview.
“Let the facts speak,” Kleinfeld added, referring to the performance of Alcoa and Arconic’s shares.
Elliott’s letter comes just one day after Arconic announced fourth -quarter earnings and Elliott announced its intentions to shake up management.
On Tuesday evening, Elliott launched a website called newarconic.com, which depicts Lawson as CEO.
In recent days, Elliott upped its stake in Arconic to 12.1 percent from 9.6 percent.
If Elliott’s suggested changes are enacted, the hedge fund says Arconic’s stock could trade between $33 and $54 a share. Shares of Arconic, which split from Alcoa in November, had been trading around $22 a share.
News of Elliott’s activist campaign pushed shares up as much as 10 percent Wednesday.
Representatives from Arconic did not immediately respond to requests to comment but said Tuesday: “The Board supports Klaus and the management team as they execute on our stated strategy.”
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