NEW YORK (Reuters) - Norway's sovereign wealth fund, one of Air Products and Chemicals' ( APD ) 10 biggest investors, said it will vote for all four of activist investor Mantle Ridge's director candidates to join the industrial gases company's board.

Norges Bank Investment Management said on its website that it will back all dissident nominees and vote against four of Air Products' board members, including chief executive Seifi Ghasemi and lead director Edward Monser at the Jan. 23 annual meeting. It did not offer an explanation for its decision.

The investor owned a 1.55% stake in Air Products at the end of June, according to LSEG data.