P&G boardroom brawl nears decision day

New York

A COSTLY months-long battle over the direction of one of America's biggest companies culminates on Tuesday with a shareholder vote at Procter & Gamble headquarters in Cincinnati.

The fight pits the maker of Gillette razors and Olay soap against activist investor Nelson Peltz, 75, a billionaire hedge fund chief who has pitched himself as the outsider needed to reignite P&G, the largest company by market capitalisation ever to face a proxy battle.

The grizzled veteran of high-profile boardroom brawls accuses the company of operating with excessive cost, being weak on innovation and missing the boat on key shifts in consumer behaviour.

Mr Peltz, whose firm Trian Partners holds 1.5 per cent of P&G shares, attributes declining market share in key …