Biz people

Fiat CEO a 'natural leader'

Fiat Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne (right) would be a "natural leader" for UBS AG's supervisory board, investor and former UBS Chairman Luqman Arnold said in an interview with daily Il Sole 24 Ore.

Arnold last week called for the breakup of Zurich-based UBS and urged it to seek a banking expert to succeed Chairman Marcel Ospel. Arnold, whose Olivant Advisers Ltd owns 0.7 percent of UBS, told the Italian daily he may raise his stake in the Swiss bank.

"Marchionne is a man with formidable international exposure," Arnold said. "It would be ideal" if Marchionne took over as chairman for three months while UBS looks for a replacement for Ospel.

Icahn launches Biogen challenge

Billionaire US investor Carl Icahn filed a suit on Tuesday (local time) to force biotechnology company Biogen Idec Inc to hand over records related to the company's recent failed attempt to sell itself.

In a complaint filed in Delaware Chancery Court, Icahn demanded the right to inspect documents and board meeting minutes to determine what the board of directors knew about the sale process, which Icahn claims Biogen deliberately sabotaged.

According to the complaint, Icahn and his associates are demanding the documents in order to alert shareholders to any non-confidential information they discover about the performance of the board.

(China Daily 04/10/2008 page15)