Unisys exploring shareholder suggestions for increasing value; prepared to make 'bold moves'

By Jennifer Lanning Drey

Portland, Ore., March 5 - Unisys Corp. is seriously considering suggestions made by shareholder MMI Investments, LP, as well as other possibilities for increasing shareholder value, Unisys chief executive officer Joseph W. McGrath said Wednesday during a presentation at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference in Dana Point, Calif.

"It was implied in some of the things they said that the board isn't prepared to look at big, bold moves, and nothing could be further from the truth. Both this management and this board have been prepared and have examined in the past, and continue to examine, bold moves," McGrath said.

As previously reported, MMI, with a 9.9% stake in Unisys, blasted the company in January for management, operational and financial missteps and called for an independent investment bank to review all strategic alternatives available to the company.

Specifically, MMI mentioned the potential divestiture of Unisys' U.S. government business and hardware business.

"We listen to all of our large, institutional investors very carefully. They often give us great council, and there's nothing that they have proposed to us that we haven't seriously investigated," McGrath said.

However, Unisys does not intend to disclose further details of its ongoing investigation into strategic alternatives in order to avoid short-term impacts from disclosures and to maintain employee and customer morale, he said.

Unisys is a Blue Bell, Pa., technology services company.

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