Activist investor Mantle Ridge has a $1 billion-plus stake in industrial gas supplier Air Products and Chemicals , according to a person familiar with the matter. The activist investor also wants to push the company on succession planning for Seifi Ghasemi, Air Products' 80-year-old CEO, the person said. Air Products is badly underperforming the S&P 500 for a second straight year. Air Products has a market cap of about $63 billion as of Friday's close. Air Products supplies chemicals and gases primarily to industrial customers, but has in recent years diversified into other businesses.

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Persons: Seifi Ghasemi, Mantle, Paul Hilal, Seifi, Samir Serhan, Ghasemi, Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway, Ken Squire Organizations: Air Products, Oiltanking, Chemicals, Products, Berkshire, CSX