Icahn puts forth slate of nominees for election to Motorola's board

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., Feb. 1 - Activist investor Carl C. Icahn and his affiliates notified Motorola, Inc. of their nomination of four individuals for election to the company's board of directors at the 2008 annual meeting.

Motorola acknowledged receipt of the notice and is reviewing it, the company said in a statement released on Friday.

Icahn's nominees are:

• Frank Biondi, Jr. former president and chief executive officer of Viacom, Inc. and a director of several companies including Amgen Inc., Cablevision Systems Corp., Hasbro, Inc., and the Bank of New York Co.;

• William R. Hambrecht, founder, chairman and CEI of WR Hambrecht & Co.;

• Lionel C. Kimerling, the Thomas Lord Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and director of the MIT Materials Processing Center; and

• Keith Meister, managing director of the Icahn investment funds, CEO/principal executive officer of Icahn Enterprises and a director of XO Holdings, Inc., WCI Communities, Inc. and Federal-Mogul Corp.

"I am confident that the individuals on our slate have the necessary skills to assist Motorola in executing on its recently announced, and long over due, decision regarding the separation of its mobile devices business in a manner which will maximize value for all shareholders," Icahn said in his news release.

"Furthermore, I believe that our slate of new candidates is necessary in order to help insure that the board moves aggressively to confront the many challenges Motorola faces in a highly competitive marketplace," Icahn added.

Icahn admonished the company for engaging in a proxy fight last year rather than accept his suggested additions to the board.

In November, Icahn suggested that Motorola split into separate companies: a mobile devices company, an enterprise mobility company, a connected home company and a company focused on mobile networks infrastructure.

On Jan. 31, Motorola announced it was considering separating its mobile devices business from its other businesses.

As previously reported, Icahn was pleased with Motorola's decision to review alternatives but still planned to run a slate of directors at the upcoming annual meeting, saying that Motorola still had a long way to go.

Icahn beneficially owns more than 114.28 million shares of Motorola's common stock for a 5% ownership interest in the company.

Motorola is a Schaumburg, Ill.-based communications company.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.