By Maiya Keidan and Bart H. Meijer
LONDON (Reuters) - Hedge fund firm Elliott Management on Monday asked the board of Dutch paintmaker Akzo Nobel (AS:AKZO) to urgently respond to its concerns about the nomination of a new chief executive.
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 (N:PPG) 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 (25.31 billion pounds) in assets, said it was making its questions public after Akzo Nobel refused to engage and after it cancelled 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.