NEW YORK, Jan 14 (Reuters) - The California State

Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) said it will vote for

activist investment firm Mantle Ridge's four director candidates

to the board of Air Products and Chemicals ( APD ), in the

year's first major boardroom battle.

The pension fund, which oversees $352.5 billion in assets,

said on its website that it will back all four dissident

candidates and withhold votes for 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 provide any explanation for its decision.

Mantle Ridge wants industrial gases company Air Products to

lay out a succession plan for its octogenarian CEO, who has

served at the helm for a decade, allocate its capital

differently and scale back on risky projects.

Mantle Ridge has argued that its director nominees should be

elected to achieve these objectives. The company disagrees and

has warned that the election of any Mantle Ridge candidate to

the nine-member board could cause confusion about the direction

and leadership of the company.

The California pension fund owned a 0.12% stake in the

company at the end of September according to LSEG data, making

it Air Products' 100th largest investor. By contrast, Air

Products' biggest investor, The Vanguard Group, owned a 9.52%

stake at the end of September.

Few investors signal publicly how they plan to vote in

corporate elections.

Three U.S. proxy advisory firms -- Institutional Shareholder

Services, Glass Lewis and Egan-Jones -- issued voting

recommendations in the past few days and largely urged investors

to elect the Mantle Ridge candidates. The company said it

disagreed with the firms' opinions.

On Tuesday, Air Products said it will report stronger than

previously forecast earnings for its fiscal first quarter 2025.

The company said preliminary fiscal 2025 first quarter

adjusted earnings per share will be $2.86, topping the company's

previous guidance of $2.75 to $2.85. Results are scheduled for

release on Feb. 6.