William Ackman of Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P. filed a letter to shareholders regarding the election of the Nominees for Management Change to the Board of Directors of Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (CP, CP.TO), in connection with Canadian Pacific's upcoming annual meeting of shareholders to be held on May 17th.
In the letter, William Ackman stated that, if the Nominees for Management Change are elected and the company's performance dramatically improves over the next several years, this will be a great outcome for shareholders. A strong and sustainable turnaround of Canadian Pacific would make clear that the company's performance failures over the last six years were not weather-related, nor due to "structural" limitations, nor any of the other litany of excuses shareholders have heard over the years. It is the rare board that would step aside and allow it to be shown that the failures of the past were due to their own failed oversight.
To send the strongest possible message about the need for change, William Ackman encourages shareholders to withhold their votes from the current directors.
At market value, Pershing Square owns a more than $1.8 billion stake in CP.
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