Activist investor Carl Icahn has nominated four candidates to
Forest Laboratories Inc.'s (FRX) board and is seeking records of
the pharmaceutical company board's actions, nearly a year after an
effort to gain board seats failed.
According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange
Commission Tuesday, Icahn said his nominees--Eric Ende, Andrew
Fromkin, Pierre Legault and Daniel Ninivaggi--have "impressive
qualifications" and said their experience would be beneficial to
the company and its shareholders. Mr. Ende was one of the
Icahn-backed candidates rejected last year. The former
biotechnology analyst at Merrill Lynch & Co. had served on
Genzyme Corp.'s board as an Icahn representative.
Last month, Icahn unveiled plans to nominate less than a
majority slate of candidates, including Mr. Ende as a nominee, to
Forest Laboratories' 10-member board.
In August, the pharmaceutical company's shareholders rejected
Icahn's effort to land four of his director nominees on the board
and elected Forest's entire slate instead.
Icahn, who is well known for his efforts to push for change in
boardrooms, is Forest Laboratories' second-largest shareholder,
according to FactSet Research data. He has a 9.92% stake, or about
26.4 million shares.
Last week, Forest Laboratories reduced its fiscal-year earnings
guidance because of lower-than-expected branded Lexapro sales and
more aggressive pricing for the authorized generic version of the
antidepressant following the March loss of the drug's patent
exclusivity.
Forest Laboratories' shares rose by 10 cents to $34.81 in recent
trading. The stock is up 15% so far this year.
Write to Nathalie Tadena at nathalie.tadena@dowjones.com