(Reuters) – Starboard Value is nominating three directors to design and engineering software maker Autodesk’s board, the activist investor said on Wednesday, rekindling its proxy battle with the company over margin concerns.
The nominees include Geoff Ribar, former CFO of Cadence Design Systems, and Christie Simons, a senior Partner at Deloitte & Touche, and Starboard chief executive Jeff Smith.
Starboard, which holds a $500 million stake in Autodesk, last week announced its intention to nominate a minority slate of director candidates for election at the 2025 annual meeting, nearly a year after it lost a bid to appoint nominees due to missed deadlines.
It has argued that Autodesk spends significantly more than software peers and has underperformed the market. It also urged Autodesk’s board last year to explore a CEO change and cost cuts.
(Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
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