Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) continues to be a battleground stock for Carl Icahn and Bill Ackman. This time, Carl Icahn may go on the offensive in court against Pershing Square shareholders and Ackman, accusing them of spreading falsehoods about the company. Of course Ackman is the one whose public short of Herbalife dragged the company into the spotlight in late 2012.
Icahn: always considering suing Pershing
Icahn said today on Fox Business that suing Pershing Square over the Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) fight has “always been under consideration.” He reportedly that he is 99% certain that Herbalife is not a pyramid scheme. Speaking on CNBC today, he again assured investors that Herbalife isn’t a Ponzi scheme and said that the company’s business model works.
Fox Business‘ Charles Gasparino also reported today that while Icahn likes Herbalife management, he doesn’t think they have been aggressive enough in hitting back against Ackman. The aim in putting more of his designees on the company’s board is that they could become more aggressive in fighting back against Ackman’s allegations. Icahn is also said to be pushing for Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) to keep aggressively buying back its shares.
Icahn wins more Herbalife board seats
Icahn’s comments come the same day Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) informed shareholders that it was nominating three more of Icahn’s designees to join its board of directors. Shares of Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) have risen nearly 7% today after the company’s announcement that it was nominating more of Icahn’s designees to its board. Investors may be reacting to this sign that the nutritional supplements company is turning more heavily to Icahn for help.
Shares may also be responding to good news (to a lesser degree) regarding Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc (NYSE:NUS)’s China operations, which will have to pay a relatively small fine but will otherwise be able to keep operating there. The allegations surrounding Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) have been similar to those
Icahn still wants spinoff of PayPal
On a side note, Icahn also said he would continue to push eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) to spin off PayPal. He told CNBC today that he still wants to see a spinoff of PayPal. In his last blog post regarding eBay, Icahn pushed for a 20% initial public offering of PayPal, which would keep eBay in control of 80% of the payment services provider.
