Exelixis, facing challenge from Farallon, says Willsey to exit board
08/05/2023 24:37
By Svea Herbst-Bayliss
BOSTON, May 7 (Reuters) - Biotechnology company Exelixis
EXEL.O said on Sunday that Lance Willsey was leaving its board
and that it would not contest the election of a dissident
director candidate amid a proxy battle with investor Farallon
Capital Management.
"The board supports Dr. Willsey's decision, which will end
the need for Farallon to continue its proxy campaign," Exelixis,
which develops cancer therapies, said in a statement late on
Sunday.
Willsey's decision to resign was related to a "personal
matter that occurred more than a decade ago," the company said
without elaborating. A Farallon representative could not be
reached for comment.
Exelixis also said it recommended that shareholders vote in
favor of its remaining 10 director nominees at the May 31
meeting, adding it would not contest the election of Farallon's
additional nominee, David Johnson. The board has 11 members.
Farallon, which owns a roughly 7.2% stake in Exelixis,
originally nominated three director candidates after raising
concerns about the company's spending on research and
development.
The company said last month that it would accept two of the
hedge fund's proposed candidates - Tomas Heyman, a former
Johnson & Johnson executive, and Robert Oliver, a former Otsuka
America Pharmaceutical executive - as board members.
On Sunday it said it would not contest the election of
Johnson, the managing partner at health care oriented activist
hedge fund Caligan Partners.
Exelixis also said it planned to replace two more directors,
one each in the next two years, with two independent directors.
(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Jamie Freed)
((svea.herbst@thomsonreuters.com; +617 856 4331; Reuters
Messaging: svea.herbst.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))