Target mails letter to shareholders urging vote of support

Minneapolis Target Corp. said Thursday it is mailing a letter to shareholders imploring them to vote for Target’s slate of director nominees in connection with its proxy contest vs. activist investor Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital Management. The vote will take place during the company's annual meeting of shareholders on May 28.

According to a report in Marketwatch, Target said Ackman's assertion that the retailer's director nominees lack experience in retail, credit cards and other business aspects is "simply wrong."

It also said that more than half of Pershing Square's 7.8% stake in Target is made up of short-term derivatives.

The derivatives, which expire in less than two years, "create an incentive to favor risk taking to affect short-term share price performance -- even if it harms Target in the long run," Target said.