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(Bloomberg) — BP Plc’s new Chairman Albert Manifold will have the votes of at least three of the company’s top shareholders this week, as he faces opposition to his election in a key moment for the energy giant.
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Norway’s $2.2 trillion sovereign wealth fund has said it will support Manifold along with a slate of other management-backed proposals at an annual general meeting on Thursday. Two other major shareholders will also vote for Manifold, people with direct knowledge of the plans said, asking not to be identified discussing private deliberations.
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The support comes as No. 8 shareholder Legal & General Group Plc said it would vote against Manifold, while proxy adviser Glass Lewis & Co. recommended investors do the same, after the board refused to allow a vote on a shareholder resolution, raising concerns about transparency and corporate governance.
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The general meeting will be the first for both Manifold and Meg O’Neill, the chief executive officer he appointed after firing Murray Auchincloss late last year, saying changes weren’t happening fast enough to reboot the company after years of failed low-carbon bets. Manifold, a former construction materials executive, took over the board in October warning of tough decisions, following calls for change from activist investor Elliott Investment Management.
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L&G has said it will vote against Manifold over what it called a reduction in transparency and board accountability, including the board’s exclusion of a shareholder climate proposal filed by activist group Follow This. Glass Lewis has also urged shareholders to oppose Manifold’s election, citing the exclusion.
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L&G and Norway’s Norges Bank Investment Management are both among the 12 shareholders with a stake of at least 1% in BP, according to the latest filings compiled by Bloomberg. L&G held almost 1.6% of the shares as of last week, while Norges Bank owned about 2.7% at end of February, the data show.
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The Local Authority Pension Fund Forum, representing UK council pension funds with more than £425 billion in assets, has called on its members to oppose the chairman and to back a rival resolution from Australian activist group ACCR seeking enhanced disclosure on upstream capital discipline.
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California’s giant public employees’ and teachers’ pension funds are also voting against Manifold, but they only held a combined 0.2% of BP at the end of February. BP’s ownership structure is very diluted, with the top-20 investors holding less than 40%, making it hard to predict which way the vote will go.
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“Following extensive engagement with our largest investors we are fully focused on building a simpler, stronger and more valuable BP,” a BP spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg. “That’s why we are making these recommendations, to provide transparent, standardised disclosures that support clear comparisons across companies.”
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