Yahoo! girds for fight with activist investor

TOKYO (Reuters) - A New York-based hedge fund with a reputation as an activist investor has proposed that Sony Corp spin off its entertainment division via an IPO, saying the move could boost the Japanese electronics firm's shares by as much as 60 percent.

TORONTO — The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, one of the world’s largest pension funds, said it has voted to support Agrium Inc’s board nominees ahead of a shareholder meeting next week, in a blow to activist investor Jana Partners. The Canadian fertilizer maker and farm products retailer Agrium has been locked in a war of words for months with activist investor Jana Partners LLC, a New York-based hedge fund.

Hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb, who runs Third Point LLC, is known for his poisonous pen and brutal letters to company boards and CEOs.  

The Burrill Report submits: by Michael Fitzhugh A heated battle for seats on Genzyme's (GENZ) board of directors fought between activist investor Carl Icahn and Genzyme's top management has ended in compromise. Icahn had hoped to remedy manufacturing snafus plaguing the company and its share value by installing a slate of four handpicked directors, including himself, at the company's June 16 annual meeting—a move Genzyme's management resisted.

Daniel S. Loeb, the founder of Third Point LLC, has a reputation for his strongly worded (and public) letters to companies and CEOs. The sharp-tongued fund manager has made headlines again after taking a massive long position in Herbalife, the stock rival Bill Ackman has been publicly shorting.

Yahoo Inc., in an attempt to “reshape and refocus” itself, appointed three new independent directors to its board, including a top executive from American Express Co.