Exclusive: Starboard's activism turning off some AOL investors

BOSTON (Reuters

Tim Armstrong is a happy man today. The AOL CEO just got an important vote of confidence from investors, surviving a challenge from activist hedge fund Starboard Value at the company's annual shareholders' meeting. Starboard failed to secure any of the three board seats it had targeted, with all of AOL's current directors winning reelection.

Starboard Value, the activist hedge fund that seeks to replace three of AOL's directors with its own nominees next month, has laid out its disagreements with the internet giant's current management in a 96-page presentation to investors. Whether you agree with Starboard, which owns 5.3% of AOL, or have faith in chairman Tim Armstrong, the presentation makes for some hair-curling reading

The bottom line is Jana just doesn’t understand our business, and the ideas they’re proposing don’t make sense After absorbing months of pointed criticism, Mike Wilson is finally going on the attack. On Monday, Agrium Inc. will launch an offensive against activist hedge fund Jana Partners LLC, which has proposed five dissident board members for Agrium and has called for drastic changes in how the company is structured and run. Agrium is going to use its analyst day in New York to poke as many holes in Jana’s proposals as possible.

By Nadia Damouni and Olivia Oran NEW YORK (Reuters) - Since Starboard Value LP was spun off as a separate hedge fund just over two years ago it has been fast gaining a reputation for aggressive shareholder activism, pushing for change in household names including AOL and Office Depot Inc . Initially investing in small cap value companies, Starboard quickly gained a reputation in Silicon Valley as a corporate raider, targeting mostly technology companies including Agilysys Inc , Openwave Systems and Extreme Networks Inc among several others. ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Since Starboard Value LP was spun off as a separate hedge fund just over two years ago it has been fast gaining a reputation for aggressive shareholder activism, pushing for change in household names including AOL and Office Depot Inc .

Christopher Holt submits: If there is a patron saint of shareholder activism it’s probably Gordon Gekko, whose iconic “greed is good” shtick has launched a thousand activist hedge funds.

By Insider Monkey: By Matt Doiron