Air Products and Chemicals (APD) activist investor Mantle Ridge late Tuesday criticized Chief Executive Officer Seifi Ghasemi's strategy and formally nominated four director candidates to the company's board.

In a letter sent to Air Products shareholders, Mantle Ridge said it owns $1.3 billion of the company's common shares as one of the largest investors.

Ghasemi's "insistence on pursuing large-scale, speculative noncore investments has unduly increased risk to Air Products' shareholders and destroyed shareholder value," Mantle Ridge said. "Over the past five years, Air Products' current board and CEO have grossly underperformed in nearly every critical aspect of their roles."

Mantle Ridge said the company should consider industrial gas industry executive Eduardo Menezes for the CEO role.

The investor's director nominees are Andrew Evans, Paul Hilal, Tracy McKibben and Dennis Reilley.

Air Products didn't immediately respond a request for comment from MT Newswires.