Activist fund Starboard Value LP which recently raised its stake in America Online to 5.1%, nominated a slate of five candidates to AOL board, saying the prior discussions with the company in the past two months were not up to the mark, Reuters reports. AOL in a statement states that it held several meetings with Starboard to address its questions and offered the hedge fund an opportunity to help shape the company’s board.
There were signs it was making “significant progress” in executing its growth strategy. It said its shares are up 20 percent year-to-date, AOL said in a statement that based on its recent earnings improvement. “Several months ago, prior to Starboard’s first letter, the AOL board of directors authorized the start of a process, and hired advisors, to realize the value of certain non-strategic patents.”
The Hedge fund in a statement said, it did not intend to seek to replace a majority of AOL’s board. There are a total of eight seats on the AOL board, which is chaired by CEO Tim Armstrong. Ronald Epstein, CEO of Epicenter IP Group; Steven Fink, former CEO of Larry Ellison’s investments; Dennis Miller, a strategic adviser to Lionsgate; Jeffrey Smith, CEO of Starboard Value; and James Warner, principal of Third Floor Enterprises, an advisory firm specializing in digital marketing and media are the five board members nominated by Starboard.
