Feb 16 (Reuters) - Activist investor Paul Hilal's Mantle Ridge LP has sent a letter to CSX Corp after the U.S. railroad operator called for a special meeting of its shareholders to discuss requests by the hedge fund.
Mantle Ridge, which owns about 4.9 percent of the company's stock, is trying to install Hunter Harrison, outgoing chief executive officer of Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd, as CSX's chief executive.
On Tuesday, CSX said the hedge fund was seeking six seats on its board, with Hilal as chairman and Harrison as CEO.
In a letter to the company's board on Thursday, Hilal said Mantle Ridge has been seeking to add only one representative, and that neither Harrison nor the other board seats discussed represented the fund in any way.
CSX said in statement that its board would review Mantle Ridge's letter.
News of the Hilal-Harrison partnership broke on Jan. 18, when Canadian Pacific announced Harrison was leaving his CEO post early.
(Reporting by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler)