Business

Loeb seeks to delay Sotheby’s meeting in fight with board

Dan Loeb wants a Delaware judge to postpone Sotheby’s May 6 board meeting, where he plans to launch a bitter proxy battle over three directors he is proposing to the Sotheby’s board.

Delaware Chancery Court Judge Donald Parsons gave no indication when he would rule.

Loeb’s $14.5 billion Third Point hedge fund, which has a 9.6 percent stake in the auction house, argued in a court hearing Tuesday that Sotheby’s poison pill should be struck down because Loeb does not want to control the company.

The company instituted a two-tiered poison pill last year after Loeb took his stake, limiting activist investors to a 10 percent stake in the company.

Third Point’s lawyers argued that Sotheby’s board members have been criticizing management in private e-mails that were revealed in court.

The auction house’s compensation plan was “red meat for the dogs” according to an e-mail from board member Steven Dodge to other directors.

Sotheby’s said that its “board is composed of independent thinkers who are active in the direction of the company. Robust debate in the boardroom is embraced by Sotheby’s independent board members and is good governance.”