Starboard buys 5.8 percent stake in Symantec, seeks 5 board seats: WSJ

(Reuters) - Activist investor Starboard Value LP has taken a 5.8 percent stake in Symantec Corp (SYMC.O) and is seeking five board seats at the cyber-security company, The Wall Street Journal reported on.wsj.com/2P8maii on Thursday.

FILE PHOTO: The Symantec booth is seen during the 2016 Black Hat cyber-security conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. on August 3, 2016. REUTERS/David Becker/File Photo

Starboard privately named its nominees in June after buying the stake worth about $670 million, WSJ said citing sources.

According to Starboard, Symantec needs operational changes to improve margins, especially in its business-facing segment, WSJ said.

Starboard says its nominees could help improve operations as well as amend issues with financial reporting, and the suggested members include a former chairman of antivirus company AVG Technologies and a former Intuit Inc (INTU.O) executive, WSJ said.

Symantec, which is in the midst of an internal accounting probe, saw its first-quarter revenue falling 1.6 percent, hurt by weaker demand from companies.

Starboard and Symantec were not immediately available for comment outside of regular business hours.

Reporting by Ishita Chigilli Palli in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier

(Original source)