Shares of LivePerson Inc. LPSN were rising 17% Friday after Starboard Value LP said it has nominated a slate of directors for election at the company’s 2023 annual meeting. Starboard disclosed its “involvement” with LivePerson in a February 2022 filing; Peter Feld, a Starboard managing member, said in a letter Friday that while Starboard tried to convince the board last year that leadership changes were needed, the board maintained that the company was positioned to improve under its existing management. At that point, Feld said Starboard agreed to back down on its request for management changes if LivePerson added three new board directors. LivePerson shares had fallen nearly 75% from the time of the 2022 “settlement” to Wednesday’s close, according to the letter. “To be clear, we remain open to working with the Board to resolve this matter in a manner that would result in a strong, independent, and capable Board, along with a commitment to initiate an expeditious management transition and a search process to identify the best possible CEO to lead LivePerson, or a commitment to conduct a robust sale process to maximize value for stockholders,” Feld said in the letter. LivePerson didn’t immediately respond to MarketWatch’s request for comment.
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