Icahn aims to remove Illumina's legacy directors - letter (updated)

Illumina

18/12/2023 15:38

(Adds context, quotes from letter)
    By Svea Herbst-Bayliss
       Dec 18 (Reuters) - 
    Activist investor Carl Icahn said on Monday that he plans to
oust directors at Illumina  ILMN.O , signalling plans to mount a
second board challenge at the gene-sequencing company only
months after shareholders elected one of his director
candidates.
  
        Icahn disclosed his plans without offering details in a
letter to other shareholders less than 24 hours after Illumina
said it will divest blood test maker Grail.
  
        The billionaire investor long criticized Illumina's
Grail acquisition and made it a centrepiece of his previous
proxy fight where Andrew Teno, a portfolio manager working for
Icahn, won a seat.
  
        On Monday Icahn cheered the decision but said the job at
Illumina has not been fully completed.
  
        "Our third goal is to remove these legacy conflicted
directors," Icahn wrote in a letter that was made public in a
regulatory filing. His first two goals were to push out former
CEO Francis deSouza, who resigned in June, and get Illumina to
divest Grail, the letter said.
  
        Icahn said Illumina's legacy directors cannot be trusted
to oversee the disposal of Grail. "It would be a great mistake
to allow the legacy conflicted directors to influence Illumina
given their history of reckless decision-making and value
destruction," the letter said.
  
        Illumina's stock price climbed 1% in early trading to
$128.38.
  
        
  

 (With additional reporting by Khushi Mandowara in Bengaluru;
Editing by Arun Koyyur and Andrea Ricci)
 ((svea.herbst@thomsonreuters.com; +617 233 2138; Reuters
Messaging: svea.herbst.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))