Judge May Invalidate Vote in Gillette, Coniston Fight

U.S. District Judge Mark L. Wolf said Wednesday that he probably will invalidate an April vote of Gillette Co. stockholders that defeated a dissident slate of directors nominated by a New York investment group.

Wolf said during a hearing in the ongoing battle over the future of the personal-care giant that he probably would call a new vote “to vindicate the rights of shareholders.”

Wolf ruled last week that Gillette inaccurately portrayed Coniston Partners in newspaper advertisements leading up to the April 21 proxy vote in which shareholders rejected Coniston’s slate of four candidates.

The judge said Wednesday that he is likely to invalidate the election and call a new vote regardless of whether he finds that Coniston acted with “unclean hands” in the period leading up to the election.

“I continue to believe some relief to shareholders will be required,” he said. “What I found was that the essence of the election was tainted in a material way.”

The comments sparked a brief flurry of activity in Gillette stock that led to a temporary halt in trading. Gillette closed up $2.25 a share at $40.50 in New York Stock Exchange trading.

Gillette Disagrees

“That’s what we’ve been saying to him,” Coniston attorney Mark A. Michelson said of Wolf’s statement. “What the judge is saying is he’s inclined to give the relief we want, which is a new election.”

But Gillette spokesman David Fausch said Wolf was only speculating on what action he may take. “He’s made no decision on that,” Fausch said of the new vote.