{"text":[[{"start":10.76,"text":"Activist hedge fund Starboard Value has built a stake in Honeywell spin-off Solstice Advanced Materials, as the US speciality chemicals group fights to rebuild credibility with shareholders after an aborted megadeal."}],[{"start":24.24,"text":"Starboard’s founder and chief executive Jeff Smith said on Tuesday that investors had “lost some confidence” that Solstice was “focusing on the core business to improve value for shareholders as opposed to trying to get bigger at all costs” after the failed merger."}],[{"start":39.24,"text":"Solstice’s stock almost doubled after being spun off from Honeywell almost a year ago, but most of those gains were erased when its $14.5bn cash-and-stock deal to buy Element Solutions was announced in early July."}],[{"start":53,"text":"“We believe that the shareholder base would like to know that they’re going to have someone that’s going to hold management and the board accountable for improving results and producing shareholder value as their primary workers, and that’s where we come in,” said Smith."}],[{"start":66.32,"text":"Solstice is a speciality chemicals heavyweight, producing compounds used in air conditioning, insulation and refrigeration. It also has a nuclear division, which is a critical part of the uranium supply chain, and an electronics-focused business that supplies chipmakers."}],[{"start":82.08,"text":"Smith’s remarks kicked off the 13D Monitor Active-Passive Investor Summit, an annual gathering of activist investors, and confirmed an earlier FT report on Monday about Starboard’s investment. Starboard owns several hundred million dollars’ worth of Solstice stock, according to people familiar with the matter, putting it among Solstice’s top 10 shareholders."}],[{"start":102.8,"text":"Shares in Solstice were up 1.1 per cent shortly after Wall Street’s opening bell on Tuesday."}],[{"start":108.64,"text":"Starboard wanted the company to focus on execution in its core refrigerants and nuclear businesses and cut about $100mn in corporate overheads, Smith said in his speech. He called the nuclear division “an amazing business”, noting its growth potential as a supplier of an important chemical used in the enrichment of uranium, amid “a long-term nuclear renaissance”."}],[{"start":129.28,"text":"Solstice took the rare move of calling off its combination with Element in late August in advance of a crucial shareholder vote after investors expressed doubts about the logic of merging two businesses with limited overlap. The deal also required Solstice to pay a higher earnings multiple for Element than where it trades, raising concerns among investors about Solstice’s capital allocation decisions."}],[{"start":154.48,"text":"Shares in Solstice had their worst trading day when the Element deal was announced this summer and remain a quarter below their pre-announcement level. Solstice’s stock is still up 25 per cent on its first trading day in October 2025, giving it a market capitalisation of almost $9.7bn."}],[{"start":174.32,"text":"Starboard, with $8.2bn under management, is among Wall Street’s most formidable activist investors, having targeted large corporations, including Bristol Myers Squibb, Salesforce and Tylenol maker Kenvue."}],[{"start":188.48,"text":"Solstice did not immediately respond to requests for comment."}],[{"start":192.32,"text":"Solstice is one of only a few companies outside of Russia and China capable of completing the initial step of enriching uranium, which is likely to provide a significant boost to earnings growth ahead of a 2028 US government deadline to stop importing Russian enriched uranium. Analysts at BMO Capital Markets said the nuclear division could achieve a higher valuation as a standalone business."}],[{"start":216.22,"text":"As Solstice nears its anniversary as a public company, the emergence of Starboard on its shareholder register will add to a rocky first year for its chief executive David Sewell. Solstice separated last October from parent company Honeywell as part of a three-way split."}],[{"start":232,"text":"Solstice “went too far, tried to do an acquisition they shouldn’t have done, and the market has not trusted them to get their value back,” concluded Smith. “We believe this is an enormous opportunity.”"}],[{"start":243.12,"text":"Sewell was recruited by Honeywell to lead Solstice ahead of the spin-off early last year. Previously, he oversaw paper and packaging group WestRock’s merger with Smurfit Kappa before leaving as chief executive when the deal closed. Sewell also serves on the board of chemicals group Huntsman, where Starboard picked a proxy fight in 2022."}],[{"start":267.4,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1792767128_3790.mp3"}