Target Urges Shareholders To Reject Board Picks

The dispute heated up over the course of 2008 as Target rejected a Pershing Square proposal to separate its stores and distribution centers from the land it owns underneath the buildings.

Ackman's slate includes himself, Winthrop Realty Trust Chairman and CEO Michael Ashner, former Starbucks Corp. CEO Jim Donald, law professor Ronald Gilson and a former chairman and CEO of First USA, Richard Vague.

Ackman said at a town hall-style meeting Monday that the nominees are independent and he did not pick them to push a specific agenda.

Shares of Target rose a penny Thursday, closing at $40.48, where they remained in after-hours trading. The company's shares hit a 52-week high in September of $59.55.