Air Products and Chemicals (APD) faced a call for change at the company by a proxy advisor firm Glass Lewis and recommendation that shareholders withhold votes for four board members, activist shareholder Mantle Ridge said.

The advisory firm's report cited years of poor performance caused by a series of expensive ventures outside the company's core operations, said Mantle Ridge, which claims it owns $1.3 billion worth of Air Products shares.

The report also faulted the company's leadership succession efforts for leaving Chief Executive Seifi Ghasemi in an "indefinite position of influence," Mantle Ridge said.

"All factors considered, we believe the case for change here is compelling," Mantle Ridge cited the advisory firm as saying.

The proxy advisory recommended that shareholders vote "WITHHOLD" on Ghasemi and three other company board nominees, Mantle Ridge said while urging a vote for its four nominees.

Air Products on Thursday sent a message to shareholders accusing Mantle Ridge of "seeking to mislead shareholders to achieve its self-interested, short-term goals." It called Mantle Ridge's board nominees unqualified and claimed that its dismissal of clean hydrogen pursuits as non-core showed a lack of vision.

Mantle Ridge, Air Products, and Glass Lewis did not immediately reply to MT Newswires' requests for comment.