(Reuters) – Box Inc on Friday rejected activist investor Starboard Value LP’s allegations against the cloud service provider’s board, adding to a prolonged tussle between the two.
Starboard, which owns over 8% of Box, had earlier said the company failed to capitalize on the work-from-home trend during the pandemic, falling behind its cloud computing peers.
Ever since, the hedge fund has been pushing Box to bring changes to its board.
Last month, Starboard asked for access to Box’s books and records to check for any potential breach of fiduciary duties by board members in connection with the company’s review of strategic options, particularly its $500 million investment deal with private equity firm KKR & Co in April.
The KKR deal marked an end to Box’s strategic review.
Prior to the deal, Box was exploring a sale amid pressure from Starboard over its stock performance, Reuters reported in March.
In a letter https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1372612/000138713121006334/ex99-1.htm dated Thursday, Box said Starboard’s demand for company books and records had no clear basis to allege wrongdoing on part of the company.
In the letter, Box said it privately offered to provide information about the KKR transaction to Starboard before, which the hedge fund rejected.
Starboard did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
(Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
