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Elliott, Akzo's largest shareholder with a 9.5 percent position,
has been repeatedly rebuffed by the company after pushing for
the board to engage with rival PPG Industries <PPG.N> over a
takeover bid it rejected multiple times.
Paul Singer's activist fund called on Akzo to confirm the date
of a general shareholder meeting to vote on the appointment of
Thierry Vanlancker as the new chief executive and to confirm
shareholders will be given the right to add resolutions to the
next meeting.
Vanlancker, 52, stepped into the role on Wednesday after former
CEO Tom Buecher quit suddenly for health reasons.
Elliott, which manages $33 billion in assets, said it was making
its questions public after Akzo Nobel refused to engage and
after it canceled a recent meeting with the U.S. activist at
short notice.
The hedge fund is currently pursuing court action to oust
Chairman Antony Burgmans, whose third term on the supervisory
board ends in 2018, over the rejected PPG bid.
Elliott also called on Akzo Nobel to urgently clarify the views
of the new CEO and the supervisory board on the separation of
the special chemicals business and the credibility of Akzo's
2020 targets.
An Akzo spokesman declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.
(Reporting by Maiya Keidan and Bart Meijer; editing by Simon
Jessop and Susan Thomas)
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