Manitowoc Company Settles With Carl Icahn

Manitowoc Company Inc (NYSE: MTW) buried he hatched with activist investor Carl Icahn, granting the billionaire investor a seat on its board.

In exchange, Icahn agreed to support the company's slate of directors at its upcoming shareholders' meeting.

Manitowoc had already acquiesced last month to activist demands that it split its construction crane manufacturing and food service units into two separately traded companies.

Manitowoc shares changed hands recently at $20.89, up 1.7 percent.

Icahn disclosed a 7.7 percent stake in Manitowoc in December and called for separating its crane operations and food-service business.

Ralph Whitworth's Relational Investors made a similar demand in June when it took an 8.5 percent stake.

Whitworth said the widely divergent business characteristics of the Food and Crane businesses causes Manitowoc to trade at "a perpetual discount."

Manitowoc on Monday also agreed that 10-percent stakeholders in its food-service spinoff will be permitted to call a special shareholders' meeting and that any shareholder rights plan adopted by the business won't have a trigger below 20 percent.

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