Billionaire corporate activist/raider Carl Icahn has suggested that San Diego biotech Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Massachusetts biotech Biogen Idec, which was formed in a merger with San Diego's former Idec, and still has operations here, should relocate to frigid North Dakota. Bloomberg News notes that Icahn owns 6 percent of Biogen Idec and wants to put 4 directors on its board. He owns 9 percent of Amylin and wants a similar shakeup. In 2007, North Dakota adopted laws, drawn up by a lawyer hired by Icahn, that make corporate takeovers easier by banning anti-takeover laws, paying individuals for costs of successful proxy battles, and allowing investors to have an advisory vote on executive pay. Some experts doubt that Icahn really wants Biogen Idec and Amylin to relocate to North Dakota, but rather wants to scare the dickens out of the companies. But Icahn may be serious.
Billionaire corporate activist/raider Carl Icahn has suggested that San Diego biotech Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Massachusetts biotech Biogen Idec, which was formed in a merger with San Diego's former Idec, and still has operations here, should relocate to frigid North Dakota. Bloomberg News notes that Icahn owns 6 percent of Biogen Idec and wants to put 4 directors on its board. He owns 9 percent of Amylin and wants a similar shakeup. In 2007, North Dakota adopted laws, drawn up by a lawyer hired by Icahn, that make corporate takeovers easier by banning anti-takeover laws, paying individuals for costs of successful proxy battles, and allowing investors to have an advisory vote on executive pay. Some experts doubt that Icahn really wants Biogen Idec and Amylin to relocate to North Dakota, but rather wants to scare the dickens out of the companies. But Icahn may be serious.