Icahn falls short with Oshkosh share offer

Carl Icahn has withdrawn his US$32.50 share offer for Oshkosh Corp after shareholders tendered just 22% of available shares by the offer deadline on 3 December.

Icahn Enterprises Holdings said it would not purchase the shares and that all tendered shares will be returned.

Mr Icahn said in a statement; “We have said in a number of communications to shareholders since the outset of this tender offer that we would not extend our offer unless at least 25% of the outstanding shares are tendered in the offer. Therefore, we are returning all tendered shares and we will not extend the offer."

Mr Icahn's statement made no mention of his second takeover strategy, which was a 'proxy vote' on his own list of directors at Oshkosh's next shareholders meeting in early 2013.

In response, Oshkosh said in a statement that it looked forward "to moving ahead without the unnecessary expense and distraction of a proxy contest."

The statement said; "Mr Icahn pledged to shareholders in a press release on November 29, 2012, that 'if we do not receive tenders of at least 25% of the outstanding shares by the expiration of the offer on December 3rd, we will respect the shareholders’ wishes, drop our tender offer and proxy fight and move on to other endeavors.'"

Oshkosh thanked its shareholders for their support; "We remain focused on continuing to successfully execute the Company’s MOVE strategy and on generating substantial value for our shareholders."

The share offer was Mr Icahn’s second attempt to take control of Oshkosh. A similar bid failed last year.