Mobil Urges Anti-Takeover Actions

Mobil Corp., an oil giant with $35 billion in assets, is urging its shareholders to approve a series of corporate bylaw changes aimed at making a hostile takeover more difficult.

One measure would stagger the terms of members of the board of directors, making it impossible to unseat a majority of the board in one election.

Another proposal would limit the use of two-tier takeover offers, bids in which a bare majority of the stock is purchased under one set of terms and the remaining stock is bought for less favorable terms.

A third proposal would try to prevent the practice of greenmail by requiring a vote of shareholders to approve stock buy-backs from any shareholder who owned 5% or more of Mobil’s stock for less than two years.