Dan Loeb To Launch Proxy Fight With Dow Chemical Co

Dow Chemical Co. DOW got set for a proxy battle Thursday after activist investor Dan Loeb apparently abandoned talks with the company and announced a plan to solicit shareholder votes.

Dow Chemical changed hands recently up 1 percent to $50.45 per share.

Loeb's Third Point, which first broached a break-up for Dow Chemical in January, also launched a website Wednesday, attacking Dow's management for what it characterized as a string of "broken promises" including missed financial targets extending from 2006 to the present.

The Midland, Michigan-based company responded Thursday, saying that Loeb's contentions "display a fundamental lack of understanding" of the company.

Dow added that Loeb "has little interest in anything that benefits the many long-term shareholders in Dow."

Dow on Wednesday boosted its quarterly dividend 14 percent, to $0.42 per share and boosted its buyback program to $9.5 billion from $4.5 billion.

The company also unveiled plans to sell its Angus Chemical Co. for $1.22 billion and said it expects the deal to close during the first quarter of 2015 and said its earlier plan to divest assets of $4.5 billion to $6 billion by the end of next year.

"Our board and management team are aggressively pursuing the best interests of all shareholders and managing the business for both the short- and long-term," Dow said.