Shareholders should approve all 8 nominees, says AOL

CHICAGO: AOL Inc, waging a proxy fight with activist hedge fund Starboard Value, said its shareholders should approve all eight nominees for its board of directors after an advisory service recommended the approval of only six.

In a statement on Saturday, the Internet and media company lauded a report by Institutional Investor Services calling for the rejection of Starboard’s full slate of nominees, but said, “ISS reached the wrong conclusion in failing to recommend that AOL stockholders vote for all eight of the company’s highly qualified director nominees.”

The company also cited three straight quarters of better-thanexpected earnings and said that, if elected to the board, Starboard chief executive officer Jeffrey Smith and investor Dennis Miller would slow AOL’s momentum.

Starboard has a 5.3% stake in the company. AOL was spun off from Time Warner in 2009. — Reuters