Irvine-based CoreLogic Inc. (NYSE: CLGX), a provider of data for real estate and insurance industries, said a preliminary vote tally shows it has won its proxy battle at a special meeting today.
Activist shareholders took only three of the board’s 12 seats as they removed J. David Chatham, Thomas C. O’Brien, and David Walker. These three are the longest-serving directors on the board and their removal was recommended by institutional Shareholder Services, which analyzes proxy votes for institutional shareholders.
Activist investors Senator Investment Group and Cannae Holdings won three nominees to the board: W. Steve Albrecht, Wendy Lane and Henry W. “Jay” Winship.
Chairman Paul Folino, who is well known in local business circles, retained his seat.
However, almost 50% of the shares cast voted to remove Folino, the activists said in a statement. The shareholders voted by more than 86% to remove the three longest-tenured directors, the statement said.
The Senator and Cannae offer for $66 a share, or about $5.3 billion, is being led by Bill Foley, who was well known in Orange County circles in the 1990s as the chief executive of Fidelity National Financial Inc. (NYSE: FNF), a title insurer once based in Irvine and which has since relocated to Florida.
CoreLogic said other offers that may top $80 a share are being discussed.
Shares climbed 1% to $78.89 and a $6.1 billion market cap.
“Today’s vote is a clear mandate from shareholders for CoreLogic’s Board to promptly engage in good faith with all bidders for the company and to maximize value,” Quentin Koffey, a partner in the Senator Investment Group, said in the statement.
