By Alison Sider 

Two activist investors who resigned their seats on the board of Williams Cos. vowed to keep pushing for changes at the pipeline giant and aired their grievances with Chief Executive Alan Armstrong in letters released Friday.

Keith Meister of Corvex Management LP and Eric Mandelblatt of Soroban Capital Partners were among the six board members to resign Thursday amid a dispute over who should lead Williams in the wake of a failed merger with Energy Transfer Equity LP.

The bloc fought against keeping Mr. Armstrong at the helm as Williams prepares to set a new course and contemplates its future as an independent company. But the directors not including Mr. Armstrong were split evenly, with six supporting Mr. Armstrong and six opposed, so Mr. Armstrong kept his job.

"I cannot serve on a board that continues to empower a CEO with an abysmal operational and financial track record, and who in my opinion lacks the necessary judgment and character to lead the company forward," Mr. Mandelblatt wrote in a resignation letter filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Mr. Meister and Mr. Mandelblatt joined the board in 2014 following a public campaign, and both indicated in resignation letters that they don't plan to go quietly. Together, they own an 8.4% stake in the company.

"Ironically, given the current CEO and board leadership, I believe I will be more effective from outside the company than within, and will seek to protect our interests and the interest of other shareholders from outside this diminished boardroom," Mr. Meister wrote in his resignation letter filed with the U.S. regulator.

The future of Williams, which operates natural gas pipelines around the country, is unclear after a protracted, troubled merger proposal from Energy Transfer went sideways.

Last week, a Delaware judge ruled that Energy Transfer could walk away from its proposed takeover of Williams, which was once valued at $33 billion, and Energy Transfer notified Williams this week that it wouldn't close the deal. Williams is appealing the court's decision.

In a statement Friday, Williams said Mr. Armstrong was the best person to lead the company gong forward.

"The board of directors has thoroughly evaluated the company's leadership structure and determined that Alan Armstrong is the right chief executive officer for Williams as the company works to continue enhancing stockholder value," Williams said in a news release.

The company said it would "evaluate the appropriate size and composition of the board going forward."

Shares of Williams fell 4.6% to $20.63 in midday trading in New York.

Kathleen Cooper, a current director and member of the audit committee member has been appointed chairman of the board, replacing Frank MacInnis, who resigned his post at chairman. Mr. MacInnis resigned for personal reasons, though he was among those who disagreed with the decision to keep Mr. Armstrong as CEO, the company said.

The other board members resigning include Laura Sugg, a former executive at ConocoPhillips; Ralph Izzo, CEO of utility giant Public Service Enterprise Group Inc.; and Steven Nance, president of a privately held oil and gas company.

The resignations were first reported Thursday by The Wall Street Journal.

Liz Hoffman and David Benoit contributed to this article.

Write to Alison Sider at alison.sider@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 01, 2016 13:19 ET (17:19 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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