WHEN: Today, Thursday, March 12th
WHERE: CNBC's "Squawk on the Street"
Following are excerpts from the unofficial transcript of a CNBC EXCLUSIVE interview with Trian Partners Founding Partner & CEO Nelson Peltz on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" (M-F, 9AM-11AM ET) today. Following are links to the interview on CNBC.com: http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000361234, http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000361227 and http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000361228.
All references must be sourced to CNBC.
PELTZ ON BEING GENDER BLIND
I LOVE WOMEN. THREE OUT OF 28 OF OUR ACTIVIST CAMPAIGNS, SINCE I STARTED THE FUND, WERE WOMEN, THREE OUT OF 28. IF YOU GO BACK PRE THE FUND, THE DENOMINATOR EVEN GETS BIGGER. I'M GENDER BLIND. I LOOK AT NUMBERS. I LOOK AT COMPANIES LIVING UP TO THEIR POTENTIAL. I LOOK AT THE FACT THAT WE HAVE A PLAN TO GET THEM TO DO THAT.
PELTZ ON DUPONT PRICE
WHY DID THE STOCK GO UP OVER 50%? IT'S BECAUSE WE'RE INVOLVED, AND BECAUSE OF WHAT JIM SAYS, EVERY TIME WE'RE IN A STOCK, IT GOES UP. THIS STOCK IS UP OVER 50% SINCE WE'RE THERE, OK? SINCE PEOPLE KNEW WE WERE THERE.
PELTZ ON BOARDS
WHEN WE COME ON A BOARD, WHEN A PARTNER OF TRIAN GOES ON A BOARD, ABOUT 20 PEOPLE SIGN A C.A. THEY SIGN CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENTS. SO WHEN THOSE 1,000 PAGES SHOW UP, THE LEGAL GOES TO OUR LEGAL DEPARTMENT, THE FINANCES GO TO OUR FINANCING DEPARTMENT, THE OPERATING MATERIALS GO TO THE ANALYSTS WHO HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING THIS COMPANY FOR TWO-PLUS YEARS IN THE INDUSTRY FOR MUCH LONGER. SO WHEN WE GO INTO A BOARD MEETING, WHEN WE GO INTO A BOARD MEETING, WE KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON.
PELTZ ON EXISTENTIAL MOVES
FROM THE TIME PEOPLE KNEW WE WERE IN THE STOCK AND THEN LOOK AT THE STOCK WHEN WE ISSUED OUR WHITE PAPER, AND YOU WILL SEE THE STOCK GOING FROM 50 TO THE LOW 60s. WHITE PAPER COMES OUT, IT GOES INTO THE 70s. THESE ARE NOT EARNINGS MOVES. THESE ARE NOT EARNINGS MOVES.
DAVID FABER: WHAT ARE THEY?
NELSON PELTZ: THEY ARE EXISTENTIAL MOVES BECAUSE PEOPLE KNOW THERE IS GOING TO BE CHANGE AT THIS COMPANY.
PELTZ ON HEINZ PROXY FIGHT
LOOK WHAT HAPPENED TO HEINZ. HEINZ WENT FROM 30 TO 72.50 WHEN BUFFETT BOUGHT IT OUT. OKAY IT WAS THE ONLY FOOD COMPANY, THE ONLY FOOD COMPANY, THAT HAD EIGHT 32-STRAIGHT QUARTERS OF ORGANIC SALES INCREASES.
PELTZ ON BREAKING UP DUPONT
THE MOST EFFICIENT WAY TO GET RID OF THE 2 TO 4 BILLION DOLLARS OF EXCESS CORPORATE OVERHEAD AND IT'S MATHEMATICAL, AND I CAN SHOW IT TO YOU, THE MOST EFFICIENT WAY IS TO BREAK UP THE COMPANY. BUT I SAID THAT WE HAVE AN OPEN MIND. IF MANAGEMENT CAN CONVINCE THE BOARD -- AND THEY'VE GOT TO CONVINCE THE ENTIRE BOARD -- THAT THEY CAN ACHIEVE THE METRICS OF THE STANDALONE COMPS WHETHER IT BE ON SALES GROWTH OR MARGIN, IF THEY CAN ACHIEVE THOSE METRICS, AND KEEP THE COMPANY TOGETHER, WE'RE ALL EARS.
PELTZ ON HEALING PUBLIC COMPANIES
WE DO BELIEVE THAT PUBLIC COMPANIES CAN HEAL THEMSELVES IN THE PUBLIC MARKETS. THEY DON'T NEED TEN TIMES LEVERAGE IN ORDER TO GET BETTER. SO, WE BELIEVE THAT THEY CAN GET BETTER IF THERE'S AN OWNERSHIP MENTALITY ON THE BOARD, IF THEY HAVE A PRIVATE EQUITY MIND-SET TO THIS PUBLIC COMPANY X THE DEBT. SO WE CAN AMELIORATE SOME OF THAT WEALTH TRANSFER.
PELTZ ON GOVERNANCE
THE CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN CHEMOURS HAS GOT TO BE CHANGED. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE THEY PUT OUT IS SUPER MAJORITY VOTE SITUATION AND A STAGGERED BOARD. OKAY? WE THINK THAT'S CIRCA 1960, WE THINK THE WORLD HAS CHANGED AND WE THINK WE NEED TO CHANGE THAT CORPORATE GOVERNANCE. AS A RESULT -- I MEAN THAT REALLY TELLS YOU WHAT THE BOARD OF DuPONT THINKS ABOUT ALL OF US AS SHAREHOLDERS. THE GOVERNANCE AT DuPONT TODAY IS EXCELLENT. WHY NOT KEEP THE SAME GOVERNANCE WHEN THEY'RE SPINNING OFF A COMPANY.
About CNBC:
With CNBC in the U.S., CNBC in Asia Pacific, CNBC in Europe, Middle East and Africa, CNBC World and CNBC HD , CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news and provides real-time financial market coverage and business information to approximately 371 million homes worldwide, including more than 100 million households in the United States and Canada. CNBC also provides daily business updates to 400 million households across China. The network's 15 live hours a day of business programming in North America (weekdays from 4:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC's global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and includes reports from CNBC News bureaus worldwide. CNBC at night features a mix of new reality programming, CNBC's highly successful series produced exclusively for CNBC and a number of distinctive in-house documentaries.
CNBC also has a vast portfolio of digital products which deliver real-time financial market news and information across a variety of platforms. These include CNBC.com, the online destination for global business; CNBC PRO, the premium, integrated desktop/mobile service that provides real-time global market data and live access to CNBC global programming; and a suite of CNBC Mobile products including the CNBC Real-Time iPhone and iPad Apps.
Members of the media can receive more information about CNBC and its programming on the NBC Universal Media Village Web site at http://www.nbcumv.com/mediavillage/networks/cnbc/.