Business this week

Procter & Gamble declared victory in seeing off a challenge from Nelson Peltz, an activist investor, for a seat on the board. The consumer-goods group said a preliminary count showed that all its current directors had been re-elected by shareholders at its annual meeting. Mr Peltz said he would wait for the final tally to be certified before conceding defeat. It was the biggest and costliest proxy fight for a board seat in American corporate history. After Mr Peltz’s firm took a $3.5bn stake in P&G, the company spent tens of millions fighting his campaign for it to boost profits by streamlining its business. See article.