Glass Lewis backs McDonald's directors in boardroom fight with Icahn

Glass Lewis backs McDonald's directors in boardroom fight with Carl Icahn A sign with the logo is on display near a McDonald's restaurant in Moscow.

BOSTON Reuters recommends McDonald's Corp investors vote for the company's directors, a move that could hurt billionaire investor Carl Icahn's efforts to replace two directors.

Glass Lewis wrote in the report seen by Reuters that the dissident Icahn has failed to make a sufficiently compelling case to warrant boardroom changes it is seeking here.

A representative for Icahn didn't immediately make a statement.

According to the report, shareholders back the company's nominees should be supported by Institutional Shareholder Services, Glass Lewis' larger rival. On May 26 there will be a meeting of McDonald's shareholders.

Candidates were nominated by Icahn to the fast-food restaurant's board to hold the company accountable for pledges it made a decade ago on sourcing pork.

McDonald's said it has worked to change its pork sourcing. It is not close to a plan to stop buying pork from suppliers that confine pigs in small crates during pregnancy. Both Glass Lewis and Icahn said Icahn has raised awareness for animal rights.

Glass Lewis wrote that Icahn's efforts to improve animal welfare conditions were a noble and worthy endeavor. The advisory firm also criticized Icahn, saying that he had taken a decidedly simplistic and myopic view of ESG concerns, with no substantive regard given to the economics of the Company's business nor the creation of shareholder value. McDonald's said that Icahn's two nominees don't have the broader expertise needed to serve on the company's board. Glass Lewis said that candidates for Icahn's positions don't have the qualifications and experience required to serve on the board of a large multinational firm like McDonald's.