Icahn Taps Tech Veteran For Xerox Proxy Fight -- WSJ
15 March 2018 - 6:02PM
Dow Jones News
By Aisha Al-Muslim
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (March 15, 2018).
Activist investor Carl Icahn has enlisted the help of former
technology executive John Visentin to help prepare for a proxy
fight with Xerox Corp. and to explore strategic alternatives for
the printer and copier maker.
Mr. Icahn reached out to Mr. Visentin as a consultant to help
with those processes, part of his pushback against a deal Xerox
struck with Fujifilm Holdings Corp. in January that would mash
Xerox together with a Fuji-Xerox joint venture and give the
Japanese company control of the new entity.
In an open letter from Mr. Icahn to Xerox shareholders published
Wednesday, Mr. Icahn said Mr. Visentin is an "operating executive
with a superb track record, specifically when it comes to revamping
complex operations with prior managerial shortcomings in the IT
services industry."
Mr. Icahn has said Xerox would benefit from new management and
has alluded that its executives should have some of the qualities
he mentioned Mr. Visentin has.
In response to Mr. Icahn's letter, a Xerox spokesman pointed to
a previous letter the company wrote outlining the value of the
deal.
Mr. Visentin previously managed business units as an executive
at Hewlett-Packard Co. and International Business Machines Corp. He
recently was in charge of transformations for Apollo Global
Management portfolio companies Novitex Enterprise Solutions, where
he was executive chairman and chief executive, and Presidio, where
he was chairman, according to the letter.
Mr. Icahn and fellow billionaire Darwin Deason, who together
control about 15% of Xerox stock, have opposed the deal with
Fujifilm and are working together to fight it. They both have said
they would vote against the deal, that they would wage a proxy
fight against Xerox and that they have asked it to explore a
sale.
Xerox has defended the deal and said the investors are
mischaracterizing it. The company said the agreement with Fuji
followed a yearlong review of alternatives for its struggling
business and that it delivers significantly more value to Xerox
shareholders than moving the company forward on a stand-alone
basis.
When the deal was announced Jan. 31, Xerox and Fujifilm said it
was expected to close in the second half of this year.
Write to Aisha Al-Muslim at aisha.al-muslim@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 15, 2018 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
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