Icahn Gets Board Seats From Cheniere
August 24 2015 - 10:10AM
Dow Jones News
Cheniere Energy Inc. said Monday that Jonathan Christodoro and
Samuel Merksamer, managing directors for a subsidiary of Icahn
Enterprises L.P., had been appointed to the board of directors,
effective immediately.
The appointments come just weeks after activist investor Carl
Icahn first put pressure on the company, saying he would seek
representation on the board for his group, which had amassed 19.4
million shares of Cheniere for a little over $1 billion.
With the latest additions, Cheniere's board now has 11
directors.
"As we have done with a number of companies in the past, we hope
to contribute meaningfully as Board members towards enhancing
shareholder value at Cheniere," Mr. Icahn said in a news
release.
Mr. Icahn is known for acquiring big stakes in companies and
agitating for changes, and has shaken up the boards of directors at
Chesapeake Energy Corp., Transocean Inc. and CVR Energy Inc., among
others.
Besides seeking a voice on the board, the Icahn-led group had
also sought to talk to the company's management about operations,
capital expenditures, financing and executive compensation,
according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission.
Cheniere has drawn fire from shareholders and proxy advisory
firms over its compensation practices. The company granted its
chief executive, Charif Souki, a pay package valued at $142 million
for 2013, making him one of the most highly paid executives in the
country. Last year, Cheniere valued his pay at $7.7 million, and as
of this year he no longer receives a salary.
Cheniere, which is based in Houston, is preparing to export the
first major amounts of U.S. natural gas by sea later this year from
a plant in the final phases of construction on Louisiana's Gulf
Coast.
Write to Ezequiel Minaya at ezequiel.minaya@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 24, 2015 09:55 ET (13:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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