Motorola has made an uneasy peace with billionaire investor Carl Icahn, heading off a proxy battle by agreeing to give four of his nominees places as board directors, according to an Associated Press report. While the mobile phone maker remains in steep descent, the move avoids a second annual meeting showdown with Icahn and stops, for now, his attacks in the media and in court on its managers and their decisions.
Motorola named Keith Meister, a managing director of Icahn investment funds, to its board and said it will nominate him and fellow Icahn nominee William Hambrecht to become directors. That virtually assures both will be elected at the company's 5 May shareholder meeting, it added.
Motorola also pledged to seek input from Icahn on the planned separation of its mobile devices operations and search for a chief executive for that business under the terms of the agreement, the report said. In return, Icahn agreed not to solicit proxies at the annual meeting, to dismiss litigation against the company and to vote his shares in support of all of the board's director nominees.
Icahn and Motorola hailed the agreement as a move in the right direction.