Herbalife said on Thursday that it planned to give two board seats to Carl C. Icahn, as the health supplements maker further binds itself to its most outspoken outside defender of late.
Herbalife will expand its board by two seats, giving both to the billionaire investor. As part of the agreement, Mr. Icahn will also have permission to raise his stake in the company to 25 percent, from its current 13.6 percent.
“We have a good rapport with the company,†Mr. Icahn said in an interview on Bloomberg TV on Thursday. “We like them.â€
Michael O. Johnson, Herbalife’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement: “We appreciate the Icahn Parties’ shared viewson the inherent value of Herbalife’s operations, products and future prospects.â€
Shares of Herbalife were up more than 5 percent in midafternoon trading on Thursday, at $39.67, after having been halted for the pending news.
The move comes two weeks after Mr. Icahn officially disclosed holding a stake in Herbalife and over a month after the hedge fund manager sparred with a rival, William A. Ackman, on CNBC over the company. Mr. Ackman has taken a very public bet against the nutritional supplements company, declaring it a pyramid scheme and arguing that it is in risk of being shut down by federal regulators.
During that confrontation, one that gripped Wall Street, Mr. Icahn allowed only that he believed Herbalife could be “the mother of all short squeezes.†That referred to the shares in a company rising substantially, hurting investors who like Mr. Ackman are betting tha! t the price will go down.
In his interview with Bloomberg TV, Mr. Icahn continued to criticize Mr. Ackman’s tactics, arguing that the campaign is simply an attempt to smear the company and trash its stock price.
“Ackman has given us the opportunity to buy a company at a discounted price,†Mr. Icahn said.
