PeopleSoft board get ringing shareholder endorsement
PeopleSoft board get ringing shareholder endorsement
PeopleSoft investors have voted overwhelmingly in favour of re-electing the company's board of directors, a decision that the board claimed was a vindication of its stance on the attempted hostile takeover by rival business application software maker Oracle.
The vote would have come as something of a relief to the four PeopleSoft nominees, George "Skip" Battle, Craig Conway, Frank Fanzilli, Jr., and Cyril Yansouni, who were all re-elected by approximately 95 percent of votes cast, according to a preliminary ballot count.
"We are gratified that PeopleSoft stockholders gave such overwhelming support for the board of directors at our annual meeting," said David A. Duffield, chairman of the board. "The vote clearly indicates that our stockholders recognise the efforts the board has made to protect and enhance stockholder value."
The outcome could have been rather different had Oracle's bid for PeopleSoft not been stalled by antitrust regulators opposing the move, as prior to that, Oracle had put forward its own slate of nominees for the posts which were later withdrawn when the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) announced that it would oppose the bid.
PeopleSoft director, George "Skip" Battle said the company rejected Oracle's overtures as it expected the DoJ to reject the bid. he would not, however, be drawn on what PeopleSoft would do should Oracle's appeal against the decision prove successful.
PoepleSoft CEO Craig Conway also defended the company's customer assurance program, which would have added more than US$1.5 billion to the cost of acquiring PeopleSoft, saying that it was a necessary move in order to preserve shareholder value, retain customer confidence and ensure the revenue stream and continued success of the company.
The PeopleSoft board was narrowly defeated on the vote to determine whether the company should expense stock options. PeopleSoft's board recommended against this, but the vote to expense the options was narrowly passed, with around 53 percent of votes cast on the stockholder proposal voted in favour of the proposal.
PeopleSoft's board of directors said it will give this stockholder vote "careful consideration as part of their evaluation of the accounting treatment of option grants."
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