Yahoo gives Icahn seats on board to avert control battle
Yahoo announced today it has reached an agreement with activist investor Carl Icahn that will settle their battle over control of the Sunnyvale-based Internet giant.
The agreement will place Icahn on Yahoo’s Board of Directors, and two other seats will be filled based on a list of nine candidates recommended by Icahn. Eight members of Yahoo’s current Board of Directors, including Chief Executive Jerry Yang and Chairman Roy Bostock, will stand for re-election at the annual shareholder’s meeting Aug. 1.
As part of the agreement, Robert Kotick will not stand for re-election at the annual meeting. The moves expands Yahoo’s Board of Directors from nine to 11 members.
Yahoo shares fell nearly 2 percent to $22.02 in premarket trading from a $22.45 close Friday. Shares of Microsoft Corp., Yahoo’s spurned suitor, rose 14 cents to $26 from a $25.86 close Friday.
As part of the settlement agreement, Icahn, who owns an aggregate of 68,786,320 shares, or 4.98 percent of Yahoo common stock, has agreed to withdraw his nominees for consideration at the annual meeting and to vote his Yahoo shares in support of the Board’s nominees.
Comments are closed.