OTHER NEWS - May 11, 1995
<i> Times Staff and Wire Reports</i>
New Grace CEO Vows Breakup, Cost Cutting: Albert Costello, displaying firm control of the company he joined just nine days ago, sought immediately to show a packed audience of investors in Boca Raton, Fla., that he is responsive to their concerns, a welcome change for many who felt ignored by former Chairman Peter Grace. Holders at the annual meeting, the first to be led by someone outside the Grace family in 42 years, voted by an unexpectedly large 82% margin to reelect the board’s slate of four directors. Some institutional holders who withheld their proxies said Costello, 59, who was also elected chairman, had succeeded in defusing investor opposition to the board by promising to sell or spin off W.R. Grace & Co.’s health care unit.
