Tiger to Support 2 Challengers for Board

Tiger International, reacting Tuesday to threats from investor Saul P. Steinberg to run an alternate slate of directors, agreed to support Steinberg and an associate as candidates for the company’s board.

Steinberg is the biggest shareholder in Tiger, the Los Angeles-based parent of Flying Tiger Line, holding 17.8% of the firm’s shares.

Earlier this month, his Reliance Financial Services Corp. had requested four seats on the Tiger board.

The board broke 10 days of silence on the Steinberg proposal Tuesday with the announcement that it had decided to expand the board from nine to 11 members and to recommend to shareholders the election of Steinberg and Stephen M. Peck, a New York investor. The company’s annual meeting will be held May 23 in Los Angeles.

“We are pleased that Tiger’s board has agreed to our request for representation,” a Steinberg spokesman said.

Peck is a partner in the investment firm of PPN Partners and a former governor of the New York Stock Exchange, the spokesman said.

Wayne M. Hoffman, Tiger chairman and chief executive, said: “We look forward to welcoming these highly regarded businessmen to Tiger’s board.”

The firm did not elaborate on reasons for the delay in responding to Steinberg’s plan or negotiations leading to Tuesday’s decision.

Earlier discussions on the matter were characterized by both sides as “friendly.”

Tiger’s current board includes former President Gerald R. Ford and Los Angeles lawyer Charles T. Manatt, former Democratic Party chairman. Five of the directors have served on the Tiger board for more than 15 years. They range in age from 47 to 76.

Steinberg’s Reliance Financial Services began accumulating its stake in Tiger in 1980. It threatened to take over the firm in 1982, shortly after Tiger’s financial situation began to decline because of the recession, rising fuel prices and high interest rates. The parties traded lawsuits, but a serious takeover never materialized.

Between 1981 and 1983, Tiger suffered losses totaling $375.7 million. It pared its operations and reported profits of $44.2 million from continuing operations last year. However, write-offs late in the year caused a net loss of $88.9 million in 1984.