Procter & Gamble Co. should focus on making soap, not soap operas.
The consumer-goods giant's proxy battle with activist investor Nelson Peltz has cost it tens of millions of dollars and months of management's time, all of which could have been better spent elsewhere. But P&G is still not giving up the fight.
First it appeared as if Peltz had lost his bid for a board seat by the slimmest of margins. Then an independent inspector found that Peltz, who heads Trian Fund Management LP, had actually been victorious -- with a mere 42,780 share advantage. And now, P&G, while not formally challenging those findings (yet), is holding off on granting Peltz a seat until it can review the inspector's final numbers.
