Icahn Ups Ante in Motorola Battle

Billionaire Carl Icahn is turning up the heat on Motorola in his battle for more control, filing a lawsuit for access to board documents. The move follows his rejection of the company’s offer of two board seats—instead of the four he's seeking—and calling its refusal to seat one of his board candidates “intolerable and reprehensible,” reports the Wall Street Journal. Icahn is waging a proxy battle for the seats prior to Motorola’s May 5 shareholder meeting.

Icahn—who owns 6.3% of the company—wants Motorola to dump its handset division, which lost $1.2 billion last year and has seen market share plummet nearly 55%. Motorola  executives have talked about selling or spinning it off, but Icahn contends they're moving too slowly. Motorola’s value has fallen $37 billion since October 2006 when shares traded near $25. Shares closed yesterday at $9.69. (More Motorola stories.)