Shareholders rebuff Icahn''s bid for Lear
17 Jul 2007
Lear Corporation shareholders have rejected a $2.9-billion buyout offer from Carl Icahn, who owns nearly 16 per cent in Lear, the maker of automotive parts including car seats and door panels.
The billionaire investor''s American Real Estate Partners had made an offer worth $37.25 a share, and said it would help the firm achieve its long-term expansion plans.
Lear
said the offer was not supported by a majority of
shareholders who had voted at the annual meeting,
even though company officials had indicated that the
offer was an attractive one.
Those
opposed to the deal, including three shareholder advisory
services, Institutional Shareholder Services, Proxy
Governance and Glass Lewis, last week repeated earlier
recommendations for shareholders to reject the proposal,
as the company was worth much more.
Richard
Pzena, who holds 8.6 per cent of Lear shares through
Pzena Investment Management LLC, the largest stake
after Icahn''s stake, had also opposed the deal.