AES Board Sued Over Bylaw Requiring Confidential Investment Info

AES Corp.'s board is seeking to chill shareholder activism by demanding the disclosure of sensitive information about private equity carried interest and secret limited partners from investors backing director candidates, a newly unsealed lawsuit says.

The energy company’s directors exploited recent regulatory changes to adopt draconian bylaw provisions that give the board a pretext for rejecting insurgent nominees, according to the court complaint made public Tuesday. Carried interest—the performance-based fee that fund managers earn on successful investments—is often a trade secret, and the identity of limited partners may be shielded by nondisclosure agreements, the lawsuit says.

“AES has weaponized its ...