By Lauren Thomas

Phillips 66 and Elliott Investment Management are poised to split a heated boardroom battle that culminated Wednesday, with the activist expected to win two of the four seats it wanted on the oil refiner's board, according to people familiar with the matter.

The outcome shows shareholders wanted some change but rejected Elliott's call for a more sweeping board makeover.

For Elliott, the battle at Phillips 66 marked the firm's first activist fight in the U.S. to go all the way to a shareholder vote. In 2013, a proxy fight at Hess ended up settling on the day of the vote.

The firm initially sought strategic improvements at Phillips 66 in late 2023, when it disclosed a roughly $1 billion investment in the company. A few months after that, Phillips 66 and Elliott came to an agreement on a new board member and said they would work together to name a second director, but that never happened.

Then, this past February, Elliott disclosed it had amassed an even larger stake valued at more than $2.5 billion. Elliott ultimately nominated four individuals to sit on Phillips 66's board: Brian Coffman, Sigmund Cornelius, Michael Heim and Stacy Nieuwoudt.

Cornelius and Heim are slated to join Philips 66's board after Wednesday's vote, the people familiar with the matter said.

In its latest efforts, Elliott has been pushing the oil refiner to sell or spin off its midstream business--which it says could be worth more than $40 billion--along with the company's chemicals joint venture with Chevron. Chevron recently said it is open to buying Phillips 66's stake in that business.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 21, 2025 09:11 ET (13:11 GMT)

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