Marvell leans to Starboard

Marvell Tech and activist investor Starboard Value have reached a deal.

Starboard Value has been agitating for board changes. Those were resisted by Marvell's wife-and-husband founding team of CEO Sehat Sutardja and president Weili Dai, who were ditched earlier this month.

The agreement adds five independent directors to Marvell's board: Starboard's Peter Field, Tessera Technologies' board member Richard Hill, Viavi Solutions' former president and CEO Oleg Khaykin, and Micron Technology board chair Robert Switz.

Starboard will also get to designate another independent director “as soon as practical”, Marvell says in its media release.

Field will also chair the committee undertaking the search for a replacement CEO, with Hill and Khaykin as members. It looks like Starboard's getting good leverage out of its 6.5 per cent holding in Marvell. ®