Media Highlights “Big Win” for Activist Client Starboard at Tessera

The Wall Street Journal, San Jose Mercury News, Law360 (subscription required) and other media outlets reported on Olshan client Starboard Value’s “big win” in its election contest against California-based chipmaker Tessera Technologies, Inc.  Starboard and Tessera were both soliciting shareholder support to elect six director candidates at the annual meeting.  With Starboard leading in the polls, the two sides struck a last-minute agreement on the eve of the shareholder vote calling for the appointment of all six Starboard director nominees to a 10-member board.   The agreement also provides for the new board to promptly appoint an interim CEO from among  the six Starboard nominees. The settlement caps a two-year effort by Starboard to reshape and restore the company following years of beleaguered performance.  Steve Wolosky, Andrew M. Freedman, Kenneth S. Mantel, and Meagan M. Reda represented Starboard in its election contest at Tessera and the negotiation of the settlement agreement.