Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA) disclosed today that it would induct three new people onto its board of directors effective February 5. These are Ulrich ‘Rick’ Schmidt, John Plant, and Sean Mahoney. The aluminum maker said that the appointments would strengthen the company and add value and experience in the automotive and aerospace fields to its board. The appointment comes ahead of the separation of the company into two entities, scheduled to occur in the second half of the year.

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As a result of the current announcement, Alcoa’s board would be expanded to 15 directors. The company also indicated that it struck a deal with Elliott Management affiliates to support its nomination of directors at the annual meeting of shareholders. Mahoney would be included in the firm’s nomination of directors for election at the meeting.

On the other hand, the other two directors, Schmidt and Plant would be included along with the directors whose terms expire in the next two years, i.e. 2017 and 2018. Elliott Management’s Senior Portfolio Manager, Dave Miller, said that the company was going in the right direction as it was moving forward with its separation. He said that it was a pivotal moment and presented an opportunity to create considerable shareholder value. He felt that he was happy to work constructively with the leading aluminum manufacturer.

Management Comments

Alcoa’s Chairman and CEO, Klaus Kleinfeld, said that as the company was ready to split into two companies, it has been working actively to ensure both of them have world-class directors on their boards. He said that everyone in the new directors list was a high caliber executive as they have established proven track records.

Alcoa’s CEO said that all the new directors are bringing in their valuable skills that are relevant to the markets that the company has been focusing on like automotive and aerospace. The company is looking to gain their expertise to make the two independent firms a success.