New From Motorola: MOTO RAZZR “Carl Icahn Edition”
by John Paczkowski
Posted on April 7, 2008 at 11:33 AM PT
Motorola (MOT) has finally succumbed to the aggressive … “charms” of billionaire investor-provocateur Carl Icahn and appointed two of his four nominees to its board of directors. Under the terms of the deal, William Hambrecht, co-founder of Hambrecht & Quist, and Keith Meister, a managing director of the Icahn investment funds, will be nominated to Motorola’s board. In return, Icahn will drop his lawsuit against the company as well as his proxy challenge.
Another victory for Icahn, who saw his demands for a breakup of the company met last month, when Motorola announced plans to spin off its handset business. Course, these victories have yet to pay off. Icahn, who owns a 6.4% stake in Motorola, began investing in the company when its shares traded at $19. They’re now trading around $9.86.
“This is a very positive step for Motorola in that shareholder representatives will have strong input into board decisions affecting the future of our company,” Icahn said in a statement.
“Shareholder representatives” … heh.
