Occidental Petroleum Corp.'s board members will propose amendments on shareholder rights at their 2020 annual meeting, including lowering the threshold needed to call a special meeting of stockholders. The current threshold has been a point of contention for activist investor Carl Icahn, who is attempting to recall four members of the board of directors in response to the company's $57 billion acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum.
Currently, Occidental's by-laws require 20% of all shareholders to indicate they would support a record date to take special action by written consent. According to a Sept. 19 SEC filing, the proposed change would drop that level to 15%. Occidental is also proposing dropping the threshold ownership requirement to call a special meeting from 25% to 15% of shares outstanding. Icahn, who has an estimated 4.4% stake in Occidental, has railed against the company's by-laws for several months as he has attempted to gain sufficient shareholder support for a record date to be set. So far, the 20% level of support has not been reached.
Icahn has been a vocal opponent of the Anadarko merger, criticizing the lack of a shareholder vote on the deal and the funding terms agreed to by Occidental CEO Vicki Hollub. Ichan has called the leadership shown by Hollub and the board "abysmal" and has mustered his own slate of four candidates to attempt to change the makeup of the board. Occidental, in turn, has mocked Icahn's selections for a lack of experience and urged shareholders not to support his efforts to set a record date.
Occidental also announced that its board approved two new committees to be formed: an integration committee and a sustainability and shareholder engagement committee.
