Icahn Boosts Stake in Motorola Again
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has once again increased his stake in
Motorola
(MOT)
, just days after the company's shareholders approved a say-on-pay proposal.
Icahn said in a filing to the
Securities and Exchange Commission
that he has upped his share count to 172.2 million shares, or 7.6%, from 6.4% previously. Icahn last lifted his holdings in March, and while Motorola shares received a significant boost then, they were trading down nearly 1% Wednesday.
The filing comes after the handset maker and Icahn agreed to put aside their differences and allow two of Icahn's four nominees to be named to Motorola's board. Motorola is currently working to split its operations into two separate publicly traded companies. On March 26, the company announced it would seek to splinter off its handset unit by 2009.
If Motorola were to find a buyer for its mobile-phone unit, the remainder of the company would consist of a cable set-top box operation, a wireless networking infrastructure business and a security and government services venture.
During Motorola's annual shareholder meeting Monday, stockholders expressed frustration and concern over the pace of the company's recovery and possible spinoff of the mobile-phone business. More notably, a shareholder proposal for an advisory vote on executive compensation received a majority 50.7% of the shareholder vote.
Motorola joins other companies such as
Verizon
(VZ) - Get Report
and
Aflac
(AFL) - Get Report
who have already seen investors approve say-on-pay shareholder proposals.
Motorola shareholders also voiced anger over the company stalling on the introduction of new handsets, while rivals
Nokia
(NOK) - Get Report
,
Apple
(AAPL) - Get Report
, and
Research In Motion
(RIMM)
have continued to gain market share.