Investment firm Elliott Advisors last week announced an effort to remove the chairman of AkzoNobel's board amid continued criticism of the Dutch chemical company's leadership.
Elliott, which indicated it represented a 9.5 percent stake in the company, previously launched a bid to oust chief executive Ton Buchner after AkzoNobel rejected a third acquisition offer from fellow paint maker PPG.
Last week, the firm requested that a court compel the company to hold a shareholder meeting and said that it "has irretrievably lost confidence" in Antony Burgmans, who chairs AkzoNobel's supervisory board.
The firm noted that a similar request in April was rejected by the company in "an extraordinary case of shareholder disenfranchisement."
"Elliott finds Chairman Burgmans' views on shareholder democracy to be archaic and wholly unacceptable in today's capital markets," the firm said in a statement.
In addition, Elliott said that a shareholder survey commissioned by the firm found that "the vast majority of respondents are dissatisfied with the leadership of AkzoNobel" and that all participants supported convening a shareholder meeting.
Although "chronic underperformance" was a contributing factor, 96 percent of respondents were dissatisfied with the company's conduct regarding the PPG bid.
AkzoNobel said that the $29 billion offer undervalued the company and that it was concerned about potential regulatory hurdles and PPG's lagging sustainability efforts. Officials also maintained that the company could grow by spinning off its chemical operations.
Investors, however, said that the company should have considered the bid and criticized efforts to go it alone in an era of industry consolidation.
"A board which holds itself accountable to no one is not an appropriate governance paradigm," Elliott Advisors said. "If shareholders are not able to regulate the conduct of AkzoNobel's Boards, who can?"