Mylan (NSDQ:MYL) defended chairman Robert Coury to Institutional Shareholder Services, an shareholder advisory group, earlier this week as the firm prepares to release a report advising shareholders how they should vote in the upcoming re-election of Coury and other directors.
Major investors like the New York City and State pension funds have urged shareholders to vote against Coury and 5 other directors, pointing towards issues like Coury’s $97 million compensation package last year. The funds also cited Mylan’s sinking share price, which has dropped since it reportedly turned down a takeover deal with rival Teva Pharmaceutical (NYSE:TEVA) in 2015.
In a letter filed with the SEC, Mylan denied reports that it ever received an offer from the drugmaker.
Mylan met with ISS earlier this week to discuss Coury’s role at the company and defended his compensation, writing that “the Board focused on structuring his compensation in this new role to ensure long-term retention for at least a 5-year period and to ensure that his compensation was significantly weighted toward equity-based compensation to further align his interests with those of our shareholders.”
The company also requested that it see a copy of ISS’ report regarding the upcoming election on June 22.
ISS responded a day later, saying that forking over a copy of the report would go against its policy.
“A public ‘vote no’ campaign aimed at sitting board members transforms the uncontested election of directors into a ‘contentious’ ballot item. As such, an investor-driven ‘vote no’ campaign precludes pre-publication review of the draft research report by the targeted corporate issuer.”
