Depomed Investors Demand All-New Board

May 26, 2016

In a public letter to Depomed shareholders, investors from Starboard Value -- which holds a 9.9% stake in Depomed -- demanded that the drugmaker strip its current board.

Starboard suggested six director nominees, including Jeffrey Smith, Starboard's CEO.

“We believe the Board clearly lacks the independence,objectivity, and perspective needed to make decisions that are in the best interests of shareholders,” Starboard said in the letter.

Last May, Dublin-based rival Horizon Pharma approached Depomed with a buyout offer and after being rejected, went public with an unsolicited offer valued at $29.25 per share months later. Depomed rejected the offer, adopting a poison pill -- or shareholder rights plan -- to discourage takeover without the board's approval.

Read the letter here