Activist investor aims at Air Products

The New York City–based hedge fund Mantle Ridge has accumulated a $1 billion stake in the industrial gas firm Air Products and Chemicals and aims to influence changes at the company, according to a report in Reuters. Specifically, Mantle Ridge wants to see a succession plan for Air Products’ CEO, 80-year-old Seifi Ghasemi, and a refocusing on industrial gas supply. Under Ghasemi’s leadership, Air Products has undertaken large green hydrogen and other energy transition projects. Neither Mantle Ridge or Air Products has commented publicly on their discussions. “The most likely path, in our view, would be for Air Products to pivot back to the core industrial gas investment model,” Jefferies stock analyst Laurence Alexander writes in a note to clients.