Activist Directors Solidify Grip on Visteon Board

Visteon Corp.'s shareholders have reelected two activist directors and named a new outside director to the company's board. At the same time, the board has shrunk from 10 to seven members.

The newcomer is Robert Manzo, founder and managing member of turnaround firm RJM I LLC. Visteon says he was proposed for the job by an unidentified "significant stockholder."

Manzo joins Kevin Dowd and Harry Wilson, who were elected to the Visteon board a year ago as the nominees of activist shareholder Alden Global Capital Ltd., a New York City-based private equity firm.

Reuters reported late last year that Dowd and Wilson instigated the company's decision in October to replace its CFO and hire Goldman Sachs as a financial advisor. The news service says duo is leading a push to dismantle Visteon.

Since late last year, the company has reached deals to sell two of its four units: the interiors business to its Chinese joint venture with SAIC Motor Corp. and its automotive lighting unit to India's Varroc Group.