Capitulation?
*YAHOO IN PACT WITH CARL ICAHN TO SETTLE PENDING PROXY CONTEST
*CARL ICAHN TO BE APPOINTED TO YAHOO BOARD
*ICAHN TO WITHDRAW HIS NOMINEES FOR CONSIDERATION TO YAHOO BOARD
*ICAHN TO VOTE HIS SHARES IN SUPPORT OF THE BOARD’S NOMINEES
But from who?
Icahn’s fight against Yahoo’s board was, of course, dealt a big setback on Friday when top Yahoo shareholder Bill Miller threw his weight behind the embattled company’s incumbent directors.
With 4.4 per cent of the stock, Miller weighed in only fractionally behind Icahn himself, who owns 4.98 per cent.
As per the above snaps just coming over the wires, Icahn has squeezed a directorship for himself out of the matter, and the ability to nominate a slate of nine individuals as a shortlist for two other new board positions.
We are, of course, awaiting Carl’s blog post on the affair.
In the meantime, from the Yahoo statement:
Under the terms of the settlement agreement, eight members of Yahoo!’s current Board of Directors will stand for re-election at the 2008 annual meeting: Roy Bostock, Ronald Burkle, Eric Hippeau, Vyomesh Joshi, Arthur Kern, Mary Agnes Wilderotter, Gary Wilson and Jerry Yang. In view of the settlement agreement with Mr. Icahn, and the termination of the proxy contest, Robert Kotick has decided not to stand for re-election to the Board at the 2008 annual meeting.
Following the 2008 annual meeting, the Yahoo! Board will be expanded to 11 members. Carl Icahn will be appointed to the Board and the remaining two seats will be filled by the Board upon the recommendation of the Board’s Nominating and Governance Committee from a list of nine candidates recommended by Mr. Icahn, which includes the eight remaining members of the Icahn slate of nominees and Jonathan Miller, currently a partner in Velocity Interactive Group and former Chairman and CEO of AOL.
Related links
Breaking news: Carl Icahn is not home - Dealbreaker
Icahn: the first response - FT Alphaville
