(CNBC) Hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman threatened ADP with bad publicity if he were forced into a formal proxy contest for seats on the payroll processing giant’s board, according to the company. ADP, which has been battling Ackman over his “transformation plan” to shake up the board and “double” its share price, detailed its behind-the-scenes negotiations with Ackman in a regulatory filing on Tuesday. Ackman wanted to avoid a proxy contest because it would have forced public disclosure and create the perception that the company and Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management were “at war,” the filing said. The activist fund manager has proposed a slate of three director nominees, including himself.
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