27.01.2012

Oshkosh wins the day

Oshkosh shareholders have dramatically rejected Carl Icahn’s plans and ideas for the company and JLG.

The company has made an announcement based on the preliminary number of proxies turned over to IVS Associates, the independent Inspector of Elections at the Annual Meeting of shareholders held today.
Click here to see Decision day for JLG
The company says that it believes that at least 12 of the 13 Oshkosh director nominees have been elected while the remaining one seat is too close to call at this time.

Prior to the closing of the polls the group led by Carl Icahn turned over proxy cards received by them to IVS for tabulation and certification.
Oshkosh will officially announce the preliminary results within four business days. IVS will make the final results available after it has tabulated and certified all of the votes.

The Company issued the following statement:

“We thank all our shareholders for their participation throughout this process and appreciate the support of those who voted to elect the company's director nominees. Over the last several weeks, we have had the opportunity to engage in productive and informative discussions with many Oshkosh shareholders, and we value their continued input. Our board and senior management team remain focused on delivering value to all of our shareholders and continuing the progress we have made towards building a stronger future for Oshkosh.”

Vertikal Comment

No matter what you might think about Oshkosh, its management, or its ownership of JLG, the fact that it has so overwhelmingly defeated Carl Icahn’s cynical proxy battle is good news for the company, its shareholders and the business world in general.

I would like to think that this is an indication that the days of crass short term financial manipulation are over and that it is a sign that investors are beginning to focus more on the benefits of building true long-term sustainable shareholder value - but I am not so sure.

Wall Street and the Cityof London are in essence market places, no different in principle from the town markets of old and a modern farmers market. As such it ought to serve those selling their wares - public companies - along with those buying them – ultimately the shareholders.

In recent years it seems to have been more about serving the few that make a full time living by making short terms bets and whenever legally possible, manipulating the market.

While some of this is an inevitable by product of the free market, which is by far the best system there is and which generally serves us well, from time to time it needs a correction or two and a reminder of what it’s all about. That should be to create real value for the community as a whole and not virtual value for the many with real riches for the few.

Today's result is a good one for those trying to build real sustainable corporate/shareholder value.