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- After launching a proxy battle against Illumina Inc (NASDAQ: ILMN), activist investor Carl Icahn has clarified that he wants management change with former CEO Jay Flatley to come back and Grail divested.
- “They should bring Flatley back as CEO immediately,” Mr. Icahn said in an interview, without specifying whether he has contacted the former CEO about the idea. “He obviously knows the company and did a good job with it.”
- Mr. Flatley, who served as CEO between 1999 and 2016, is credited with transforming Illumina into the leading global maker of gene sequencing products.
- Read: Disney Urges Shareholders To Veto Activist Disney Urges Shareholders To Veto Activist Investor Nelson Peltz’s Board Seat Proposal At April 3 Annual Meet
- Since Mr. Icahn launched his proxy battle, Mr. Flatley has stayed quiet in public. But he told the Financial Times in January that the company had overpaid for Grail and that “if nothing happens on this in the next year, I think the grumbling will probably get louder…Current CEO Francis deSouza is at the point of that spear.”
- In a Wall Street Journal report, Mr. Icahn says that the current management will do whatever it can to hold on to Grail, which he says is a mistake. Under current macroeconomic conditions, he says, Illumina can’t afford to keep the company, which lost more than $600 million last year.
- Price Action: ILMN shares are up 4.87% at $224.25 on the last check Wednesday.
- Related: Carl Icahn Steps Up Battle With Illumina, Says Directors Asked Additional Insurance For Grail Deal.
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