WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Ecolab Inc. (ECL) announced that it has entered into a stockholder agreement with Cascade Investment, L.L.C. and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust related to their investments in Ecolab.
Ecolab noted that it has amended its stockholder rights plan so that Cascade and the Foundation Trust would in the future be able to acquire up to 25% of Ecolab's outstanding shares.
Cascade currently holds 27 million shares, or 9.3%, and the Foundation Trust currently holds 4.37 million shares, or 1.5%, of Ecolab's outstanding shares.
As per the agreement, if Cascade and the Foundation Trust own in the aggregate 15% or more of the outstanding Ecolab shares, Cascade and the Foundation Trust have agreed not to seek control of, or encourage others to seek control of, the company or the Board of Directors, and accordingly they will support the Ecolab Board's director nominees as long as a Cascade representative is given the opportunity to serve as a director, Ecolab said.
Currently, Michael Larson, Chief Investment Officer for William Gates III, and the business manager for Cascade, is an Ecolab director.
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