Juniper is set to start yet another new chapter as the vendor is working with hedge fund Elliot Management on how to add new directors to its board, reports The Wall Street Journal, citing people close to the talks.
A major critic of Juniper, the activist investor has made recommendations to the vendor on potential candidates, but people involved in the discussion said it is too early to say who or how many directors would be added to the board.
According to the WSJ report, Elliot is aiming to add more industry experience to Juniper's 11-person board to improve its operations following a series of issues the company had to weather through and may even ask the board about the sale of the company.
By agreeing to negotiate potential new board members, Juniper could avoid a proxy fight.
The past year has been one of transition and trouble for Juniper.
In November, Shaygan Kheradpir suddenly resigned from Juniper due to what the company's board said was apparent misconduct in handling a customer negotiation. At that time the company did not elaborate on any further details about why Kheradpir stepped down. He was replaced with 17-year company veteran Rami Rahim, who most recently was executive vice president and general manager, Juniper Development and Innovation.
Just as Kheradpir took the reins of the company from Kevin Johnson, who previously announced he would retire from the company, trouble began. In January, Elliot Management said the vendor needed to reduce costs and return more money to shareholders. As part of that cost reduction process, the vendor announced in April that it would lay off 6 percent of its employee base.
Negotiating new members for Juniper's board comes as a one-month window opens in late January for investors to nominate new directors to the company's board.
For more:
- WSJ has this article (sub. req.)
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