DEERFIELD, Ill. -- Nelson Peltz, an activist investor, will step down as a director of the Mondelez International board as he prepares to join the board of directors at consumer packaged goods corporation Procter & Gamble Co.
Peltz, CEO of Trian Fund Management LP, will be replaced on the board by Debra Crew, former president and CEO of Reynolds American, and Peter May, president and Peltz’s founding partner at Trian, on March 1.
Peltz, who joined the Mondelez board in 2014, acted as an activist investor after the company’s split from Kraft Foods by urging PepsiCo to either spin off its beverage unit and merge its Frito-Lay snacks business with Mondelez, or completely divide its snacks and beverage business altogether. None of these happened. Instead, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi advocated for a combined snack and beverage company, and Peltz dropped the merger push after he joined the Mondelez board.
Four years later, Peltz said he’s pleased with the company’s progress and believes it’s well-positioned to create more value for shareholders.
Crew, meanwhile, began her career in consumer packaged goods at Kraft Foods in 1993. She then worked at several large CPG companies, including Nestle SA, Mars Inc. and PepsiCo, where she was president and general manager of multiple departments, including PepsiCo North America Nutrition. She joined R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. in 2013, and became CEO of Reynolds American in 2017.
Like Crew, May has been in the industry for multiple decades. From 1983 to 1988, he was president and COO and a director of Triangle Industries Inc., the largest packaging company in the world at the time. From 1993 to 2007, May was president, COO and a director of Triarc Cos. Inc., which owned Arby's Restaurant Group Inc. and the Snapple Beverage Group during that period. Besides working with Trian, May is currently the non-executive vice chairman of The Wendy's Co.
Deerfield, Ill.-based Mondelez is a leading global snacking company, operating in 160 countries with approximately $26 billion in net revenue in 2017. The company manufactures biscuits, chocolate, gum, candy and powdered beverages, and its products include Belvita, Chips Ahoy, Oreo, Nabisco, Cadbury, Jacobs coffee, Tang powdered beverages and Trident gum.
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