The FINANCIAL — Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA) and value investment firm, Southeastern Asset Management, Inc., on December 8 announced that they have entered into an agreement to add two new independent members to Sun's Board of Directors. Southeastern is Sun's largest shareholder and currently holds approximately 162 million shares, or 22 percent, of Sun's common stock.
Under the terms of the agreement, Sun will add two new independent directors to its Board. The appointments, to be approved by both companies, will occur as soon as reasonably practicable.
"We fully support Sun's CEO, Jonathan Schwartz, and his leadership team in their efforts to continue driving near-term efficiencies and long-term growth," said Jason E. Dunn, Vice President and Principal, Southeastern Asset Management, Inc. "Sun product lines like Open Storage and Solaris-based Chip Multi-Threading (CMT) systems along with software infrastructure assets including Java, OpenSolaris and MySQL, illustrate Sun's enormous growth opportunity. With the appointment of two new directors, the recently announced restructuring, over $3 billion in cash and a long history of cash generation, we are confident Sun is well positioned for long-term success."
"Southeastern is a knowledgeable partner and investor that has demonstrated great commitment to our long-term vision and success," said Schwartz. "Bringing complementary world-class talent to our board community only helps Sun fuel new ideas, drive more innovation and accelerate business opportunities and focus. Sun is committed to do what's necessary to deliver maximum value to its customers and shareholders."
