Dissident General Motors Corp (GM) shareholder Kirk Kerkorian said on Friday that he no longer planned to acquire additional stock in the world's biggest automaker, citing GM's decision not to pursue an alliance with Renault and Nissan.
Kerkorian's adviser Jerome York also resigned from the GM board.
In his resignation letter, which was obtained by AP, York criticized the board room environment at GM as "not very receptive to probing much beyond the materials provided by management" and said he had "grave reservations" about GM's ability to compete with Asian rivals.
Kerkorian, the billionaire investor who owns a 9.9 percent stake in the company, has been pushing for more changes at GM. The company has said its own restructuring program, which includes job and plant cuts, is starting to show results.
GM shares tumbled on the news, shaving nearly US$1.2 billion off the company's value and about US$116 million off Kerkorian's stake. GM shares dropped US$2.08, or 6.3 percent, to close at US$31.05 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Kerkorian, who promoted the idea of GM joining Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co in a broad alliance, had told the Securities and Exchange Commission last week that he was considering increasing his stake in GM to as much as 12 percent.
In a filing to the SEC on Friday, Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp said it no longer planned to acquire those shares. But it said it would continue to review its investment in GM and may dispose of or acquire more shares in the future.
GM confirmed York's resignation and issued a statement defending its restructuring progress. Tracinda spokeswoman Carrie Bloom declined to comment.
GM, Nissan and Renault announced on Wednesday that they were ending their alliance talks. GM chief executive Rick Wagoner said that the company believed it would benefit from the proposed linkup far less than Nissan and Renault, which already are joined in an existing alliance. GM wanted the other companies to compensate it for that imbalance, but Renault-Nissan said that demand contradicted the spirit of an alliance.
Wagoner said GM's board voted unanimously on Tuesday to end the talks, meaning York also voted against the alliance. But Tracinda said it was disappointed by GM's decision.
GM on Friday again stressed that the board's decision was unanimous.
"This decision was made after a comprehensive process that included joint synergy evaluation by the management of all three companies and receipt of advice on the proposal by two prominent financial advisers," the company said.
But York maintained that the board should have sought its own evaluation.
RISK REMAINS: An official said that with the US presidential elections so close, it is unclear if China would hold war games or keep its reaction to angry words The Ministry of National Defense said it was “on alert” as it detected a Chinese aircraft carrier group to Taiwan’s south yesterday amid concerns in Taiwan about the possibility of a new round of Chinese war games. The ministry said in a statement that a Chinese navy group led by the carrier Liaoning had entered waters near the Bashi Channel, which connects the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean and separates Taiwan from the Philippines. It said the carrier group was expected to enter the Western Pacific. The military is keeping a close watch on developments and “exercising an
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
RESILIENCE: Once the system is operational, there would be no need to worry about the risks posed by disasters or other emergencies on communication systems, an official said Taiwan would have 24-hour access to low Earth orbit satellites by the end of this month through service provided by Eutelsat OneWeb as part of the nation’s effort to enhance signal resilience, a Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) official said yesterday. Earlier this year the Ministry of Digital Affairs, which partnered with Chunghwa Telecom on a two-year project to boost signal resilience throughout the nation, said it reached a milestone when it made contact with OneWeb’s satellites half of the time. It expects to have the capability to maintain constant contact with the satellites and have nationwide coverage by the end
REACTION TO LAI: A former US official said William Lai took a step toward stability with his National Day speech and the question was how Beijing would respond US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday warned China against taking any “provocative” action on Taiwan after Beijing’s reaction to President William Lai’s (賴清德) speech on Double Ten National Day on Thursday. Blinken, speaking in Laos after an ASEAN East Asia Summit, called the speech by Lai, in which he vowed to “resist annexation,” a “regular exercise.” “China should not use it in any fashion as a pretext for provocative actions,” Blinken told reporters. “On the contrary, we want to reinforce — and many other countries want to reinforce — the imperative of preserving the status quo, and neither party taking any
RSS