Honeywell Adds Elliott Executive to Its Board Ahead of Breakup
Honeywell International is adding an executive from activist investor Elliott Investment Management to its board ahead of the industrial conglomerate's split into three companies.
The company appointed Marc Steinberg, a partner at Elliott, as an independent director and audit committee member, effective at the end of this month, confirming an earlier report by The Wall Street Journal.
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The appointment comes with a cooperation agreement between the industrial conglomerate and Elliott. The agreement will give Honeywell standard protections around confidentiality and other matters for a set period.
Elliott revealed late last year that it had amassed a more than $5 billion stake in Honeywell and called on the company to break itself apart.
Honeywell Chief Executive Vimal Kapur said Wednesday that he appreciated the constructive insight Steinberg has shared with the company in recent months. Steinberg has been at Elliott since 2015 and is responsible for public and private-equity investments across a number of industries.
Steinberg previously worked at the boutique investment bank Centerview Partners. He currently sits on the boards of Etsy and Pinterest, as well as two private companies, Syneos Health and Nielsen Holdings.
In a letter sent to Honeywell's board late last year, Elliott called for many changes centered on simplification that could create greater value for shareholders. It didn't explicitly ask for board seats.
Honeywell, which has a market value of around $145 billion, is separating its aerospace division from its automation business, and spinning off its advanced-materials arm. The breakup is expected to be wrapped up by the second half of next year.
Kapur has been pursuing a string of smaller acquisitions to bolster certain Honeywell divisions, particularly in aerospace and defense, which has experienced stronger growth lately. (Elliott has said a stand-alone Honeywell aerospace business could be worth well over $100 billion.)
Honeywell in late April raised its full-year guidance for earnings per share, saying it will use pricing and other actions to protect its bottom line in President Trump's trade war.
Elliott, meanwhile, just wrapped up a heated boardroom battle at the oil refiner Phillips 66, winning two of the four board seats it wanted.
Elliots's stake in Honeywell is one of the firm's largest investments ever.
Write to Lauren Thomas at lauren.thomas@wsj.com
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