Victory - that's what activist investor Carl Icahn is claiming in his battle against Forest Labs after he won a seat on the drug maker’s board.
Icahn nominee Pierre Legault, a former executive at several big drugmakers, will join the company as one of 10 directors.
As the second largest shareholder, Icahn has been locked in a bitter proxy fight with the drug maker, criticizing the board for being ill-prepared to generate new growth as generic competition curtails revenue from two of its biggest-selling treatments - Lexapro for depression and Namenda for Alzheimer's disease.
But this victory may be bitter sweet.
Icahn had nominated 4 directors, but he only won the single seat.
Icahn had also sought seats for Daniel Ninivaggi, president of Icahn Enterprises, Eric Ende, a former analyst at Merrill Lynch, and Andrew Fromkin, former chief executive of Clinical Data.
And Forest noted they had already offered Icahn a director's seat during a previous proxy fight last year.
But on CNBC’s Fast Money Icahn insisted that he couldn’t be happier with the outcome. And he revealed his new strategy for unlocking shareholder value.
“Minority shareholders can do a great deal,” insisted Icahn.
“Pierre (Legault) is a knowledgeable guy and he can be very effective at helping them cut costs,” Icahn tells us. “There’s hope for the company. Basically I think the company has great potential.”
Icahn also said he believes his attempts to make the company more profitable doesn't have to be confrontational. "There's peace and then there's war. We don't need war"
Icahn believes his objectives can be accomplished amicably. "In fact, I can tell you CEO Howard Solomon and I plan to have dinner.”
Posted by CNBC's Lee Brodie
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Trader disclosure: On August 15, 2012, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC’s "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders; Joe Terranova is long VRTS; Joe Terranova is long MCD; Joe Terranova is long SBUX; Joe Terranova is long WFM; Joe Terranova is long AAPL; Joe Terranova is long EMC; Joe Terranova is long NXPI; Pete Najarian is long AAPL; Pete Najarian is long C; Pete Najarian is long INTC; Pete Najarian is long YHOO; Pete Najarian is long SBUX; Pete Najarian is long FB; Pete Najarian is long MSFT; Jon Najarian is long call spreads in AAPL; Jon Najarian is long call spreads in ABX; Jon Najarian is long call spreads in GLD; Jon Najarian is long call spreads in JPM; Jon Najarian is long call spreads in HUN; Jon Najarian is long call spreads in CSCO; Jon Najarian is long call spreads in FB; Jon Najarian is long call spreads in GMCR; Jon Najarian is long call spreads in OAS; Jon Najarian is long STSI; Jon Najarian is long CBOE; Jon Najarian is long CME; Jon Najarian is long GLUU; Brian Kelly is long INGR
CNBC.com with wires.
