At least one third party agrees with Carl Icahn about Forest Laboratories. Institutional Shareholder Services, a proxy advisory firm, has backed two of Icahn's four nominees to the Forest ($FRX) board.
ISS has thrown its weight behind Icahn's Daniel Ninivaggi and Pierre Legault to replace Forest's nominees. It's an incremental victory in Icahn's second run at winning repesentation on the company's board, which he says is too close to management and too wedded to business as usual.
According to ISS, Icahn "made a compelling case that increased indpendent boardroom representation and oversight of Forest's operating expenses are warranted."
Icahn and Forest have been trading barbs in an epistolary battle for shareholder opinion. At times, the campaign has dipped into personal gibes--namely when Icahn questioned Forest's plan to succeed CEO Howard Solomon. Icahn's other criticisms have focused on plans to replace revenue lost to generic competition for its previously top-selling antidepressant Lexapro.
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