Rogers adds two independent directors after Starboard agreement

(Reuters) -Electronics materials maker Rogers Corp said on Monday it has entered into an agreement with activist investment firm Starboard Value LP to add two independent directors to the company’s board.

The company has appointed former Linde Plc executive Anne Roby and former chief of electrical power storage firm C&D Technologies Armand Lauzon as new independent directors.

The board will consist of nine members after the annual meeting, Rogers said.

Starboard will withdraw its director nominations, Rogers said, adding the firm has also entered into a standstill and voting agreement. 

Starboard, which owns about 6.5% of Rogers, revealed in a filing earlier this month, that it had nominated three independent director candidates plus three of the firm’s principals to Rogers’ board in a bid to push for changes.

The move followed a 36% fall in Rogers’ shares since November, when DuPont walked away from a $5.2 billion deal to buy the company because it failed to secure regulatory approval for the transaction in China.

As of Friday, Rogers had a market value of $2.82 billion. The company, which was founded in 1832, makes materials used in electronics and wireless infrastructure.

(Reporting by Pratyush Thakur in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Sriraj Kalluvila)