May hasn’t been kind to “activist stockholder” Bill Ackman. First, there was losing the fight to provide DIP financing to General Growth – despite owning 25% of the bankrupt REIT. Then, there, was the proxy fight he launched against uber-retailer Target.
You know where this is going, but the results and the counsel, after the jump.
Despite promising to hold his investment for five years if appointed to the board, he was thwarted in his bid for five seats on the board. Ackman owns 7.8% of the company (he’s the third-largest shareholder) and spent a record-breaking $15 million on the solicitation, to no avail. As we previously reported, Ackman’s lawyers were Stephen Fraidin (Tufts AB ‘61, Yale LLB ‘64) and Andrew Nagel (Harvard AB ‘86, Boalt JD ‘93 of Kirkland.
But we’re still dying to know who the outside counsel was for Target. Ackman said they misread Target’s org. docs but not only did Target tell him he was wrong because he hadn’t read far enough, the stockholders endorsed management’s take on how many directors comprised the board.
So it’s Raiders 1 – Management 1 right now (Icahn got his two seats at Amylin)
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