Elliott Management Is Said Push for Changes at Alexion
If Alexion’s management does not take action — from offering more aggressive financial performance guidance to considering strategic alternatives such
as selling itself — Elliott could end up taking actions like beginning a proxy fight to claim seats on the company’s board, these people added.
In a statement, a representative for Alexion said that the company “believes in active
and constructive dialogue with all of our shareholders, and we value their perspectives.”
The potential battle between the drugmaker, whose market value as of Thursday was $24 billion,
and the hedge fund, which oversees $34 billion in assets, demonstrates the continued clout of activist investors.
That month, during the most recent meeting between the company
and the hedge fund, Elliott gave Alexion management a list of four potential director candidates, the people with knowledge of the matter said.
The company said in its statement that it has already changed up its board to add directors who have “highly relevant experience.”
The hedge fund also cautioned against ambitious acquisitions outside of the company’s core expertise.
Elliott Management, which has previously taken on the likes of Samsung
and the aluminum parts maker Arconic, has built a stake in Alexion and has urged the biopharmaceutical company to do more to lift its stock price, according two people with direct knowledge of the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly.
But it has also urged Alexion’s new management team to further cut costs, set higher
financial performance targets and better communicate with investors and analysts.
