Icahn makes another bid to buy Oshkosh

High profile investor Carl Icahn is making another attempt to buy Oshkosh Corp – owner of JLG Industries – by offering US$32.50 per share for the company’s outstanding shares.

In response Oshkosh advised shareholders to do nothing until it had reviewed the offer and said it would respond within 10 days.

For Mr Icahn - who is the largest shareholder of Oshkosh with an almost 10% stake – this is a second attempt to try and win control of Oshkosh. He failed in a bid to get his nominated directors elected to the Oshkosh board at the company’s AGM aerial this year.

In August he reiterated his view that Oshkosh should sell JLG and use the proceeds to reduce debt and return capital to shareholders.

In making this latest bid, Mr Icahn said in a statement that Oshkosh management had taken a passive attitude to the future of the company; “We believe that mismanagement of this company has resulted in a lost decade of shareholder value. Apparently, management would like shareholders to ignore this decade long track record along with the potential fiscal cliff, revenue declines and over capacity in the defense industry, and a volatile economy in top growth markets like Brazil. Instead they are asking shareholders to focus on 2015 projections contingent on a global economic boom."

As a result of the bid Oshkosh’s share price rose by 11% to reach $29.90 at the end of trading on Thursday.