Top Xerox Corp (XRX.N) shareholders Carl Icahn and Darwin Deason on Tuesday suggested alternatives to the printer maker’s proposed merger with Japan’s Fujifilm (4901.T), including a plan for the U.S. company to monetize some assets.
The suggestions include removing Xerox’s current management and monetizing the company’s “untapped” intellectual property in digital printing and other businesses.
Icahn and Deason, who own a combined 15 percent of Xerox, have repeatedly urged fellow shareholders to oppose the $6.1 billion Fuji-Xerox deal.
The shareholder duo has said the merger dramatically undervalues Xerox and criticized the deal structure, which calls for the U.S. firm to be combined into the Fuji Xerox joint venture, as being convoluted.
“We believe our plan could create total value of $54 to $64 per share compared to (the approximate) $28 per share in the (Fujifilm deal),” Icahn and Deason said in a presentation.
Xerox, in a statement, said on Tuesday that Icahn and Deason’s presentation was repeating “prior misleading statements” and “failed to provide a credible or actionable alternative to create value for shareholders.”
Source: Reuters.com