Carl Icahn Turns Activist on Nuance Communications

Wall Street Journal
Carl Icahn has a new target: Nuance Communications.
The activist investor reported a stake in the speech-recognition software maker in April. Late Thursday Mr. Icahn went from being a passive holder to an active investor, signaling he may seek board seats. He wasn’t immediately available for comment Friday.
That has the stock up 4.6% to $19.15 on Friday, reversing four straight days of declines.
Mr. Icahn is the biggest shareholder in Nuance, holding 16.9% stake. The company adopted a poison pill earlier this month with a 20% threshold and the WSJ reported that it hired Goldman Sachs.
“We welcome communications with stockholders and value input toward the goal of enhancing stockholder value,” the company said in a statement Friday. “The Nuance Board of Directors and management team are committed to enhancing value for all stockholders, and we will continue to take the actions that we believe will enable us to achieve this objective.”
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