Proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has recommended that shareholders vote against Carl Icahn’s share buyback proposal for Apple.
According to the ISS report, “[The Apple board] has returned the bulk of its U.S.-generated cash to shareholders via aggressive stock buybacks and dividends payouts. In light of these good-faith efforts and its past stewardship, the board’s latitude should not be constricted by a shareholder resolution that would micromanage the company’s capital allocation process.”
Icahn is currently in the middle of a campaign to get Apple to return more cash to shareholders, and has filed a resolution proposing that the company give back $50 billion more through share buybacks. Apple shareholders will vote on the proposal at a February 28 meeting.
ISS isn’t the only proxy advisory firm to suggest that shareholders vote against Icahn’s proposal. On Friday, Egan-Jones also advised shareholders to take the same course of action.
Source: Reuters
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
