Meanwhile across the Atlantic, the chief executive of Deutsche Börse, the German exchange operator, believes that a merger agreement with Euronext, its pan- European rival, could be sealed before a decisive Euronext shareholders meeting on May 23, according to a Handelsblatt, the German business daily.
Management today has taken decisive action for shareholders to address this issue and unlock substantial value".
"The board sought a clear and decisive mandate from shareholders to provide a platform for stability and is pleased that the voting has provided this," he said.
But, don't worry, dear shareholders, we're taking decisive action: we're cutting your dividend by 54%.
Long-term investment decisions may not be in the best immediate interests of the shareholders, they say, and decisive action is often required in the transfer market.
With the threat of a proxy fight looming, the two companies are expected to increasingly court shareholders, whose views will prove decisive.
But with the Russian government owning 60 percent of Sberbank, outside shareholders do not have a decisive voice in expansion plans — particularly in such a politically delicate task as Sberbank's return to the Eastern bloc satellite states.
The result looked to many like a German embrace, for better or worse, of Anglo-Saxon capitalism: a successful, but fiercely fought, hostile bid, in which the views of institutional shareholders were in the end decisive.
Ultimately, AOL is trying to balance Armstrong's long-term fightback strategy, based around a strong content business and sophisticated display advertising around that, with activist shareholders who want to see more decisive and short-term actions to turn the company's business around.
"I am gratified that shareholders have endorsed our offer in such a decisive manner," Mr. Icahn said in the statement.
