26.01.2012

Decision day for JLG

Carl Icahn’s proxy battle with JLG owner Oshkosh comes to a head on Friday at the Oshkosh Annual General Meeting.

Icahn, who owns almost 10 percent of the company’s shares, is pushing to have shareholders appoint six directors that he has nominated to the Oshkosh board, in order to adopt his strategy of selling off JLG in order to focus on the defence and speciality truck business.

The battle has virtually come down to a referendum on the JLG acquisition of 2006 and its future. Oshkosh management has admitted that the timing was not great, but point out that it was and is part of a long term diversification plan to reduce its reliance on the defence business – the future of which is extremely uncertain.
For our original report – Icahn stirs up Oshkosh - click here

At the moment there are few signs that Icahn has gathered much support for his campaign, with most investors who have spoken out in public supporting the management’s strategy.

With the aerial lift and telehandler market growing at a much faster rate than the general economy most analysts and shareholders appear to see the logic of holding onto JLG and reaping the benefits. The business is expected to generate up to half of the Oshkosh group profits in 2012.