Icahn Wins One, Loses One at Transocean Shareholder Meeting
ThinkstockActivist investor Carl Icahn had proposed that the world’s largest offshore drilling firm, Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG), pay shareholders a one-time dividend of $4 a share and to replace 3 board members with a slate of candidates Icahn supported. Shareholders…
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Activist investor Carl Icahn had proposed that the world’s largest offshore drilling firm, Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG), pay shareholders a one-time dividend of $4 a share and to replace 3 board members with a slate of candidates Icahn supported. Shareholders rejected the dividend proposal, with nearly 75% of those voting refusing to support the proposal.
In something of a face-saving victory, Icahn did manage to put one of his three candidates on Transocean’s board. Sam Merksamer will replace board chairman Michael Talbert who had said he would resign from the board even if re-elected. He won’t have to write that resignation letter now.
Transocean’s CEO told The Wall Street Journal that the company “welcomes” Merksamer to the board and that there won’t be any issues with seating the new board member.
At its annual meeting yesterday shareholders did approve a smaller dividend payment of $2.24 a share that had been proposed by Transocean’s management and supported by to institutional investors’ advisory firms. The dividend will be paid in 4 quarterly installments of $0.56 a share beginning in June.
Shares of Transocean are trading down 1.8% at $53.76 in a 52-week range of $39.32 to $59.50.
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Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.
He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.