Icahn allies to get seats on Motorola board

Motorola said Monday it had reached an agreement with the activist investor to place two of his allies on the company's board, one of them effective immediately.

Icahn Enterprises chief Keith Meister will be appointed to serve on the board immediately, and also be nominated for election to the board on the 2008 proxy statement. Additionally, investment banker William Hambrecht will be nominated.

Both have close ties to Carl Icahn, who has been embroiled in a dispute over the company's direction since early 2007. He owns 6.4 percent of the company. As part of the deal, Icahn has pledged not to solicit proxies and support all of the board's director nominees.

Any litigation between the two groups will be dismissed, and Motorola agrees to hear Icahn out regarding the separation of the mobile devices business. They will also allow him to have a say in a new CEO for that group.

The opinionated investor will have an inroad through Meister and Hambrecht as to the inner workings of Motorola, although they are bound by confidentiality agreements on certain issues.

Regardless, it could be see as a win for Icahn, which his public statements on the matter reflected. "This is a very positive step for Motorola in that shareholder representatives will have strong input into board decisions affecting the future of our company," he said in a statement.