Target seeks to declassify its board

Minneapolis Target Corp. said Thursday that its board has approved amendments to declassify its board. The approval of the amendment requires support by holders of 75% of outstanding shares at Target’s 2010 shareholders’ meeting.

If the amendments are approved, nominees for the class of directors whose terms expire at the 2010 meeting will be elected for one-year terms, and beginning with the 2011 shareholders’ meeting, all director nominees will be elected for one-year terms.

Target’s current classified board structure, or what’s known as a staggered board, enables directors to serve overlapping terms. Former activist investor Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital Management, in what turned out to be a failed proxy fight against Target, has criticized the Target board’s classified nature as he said shareholders couldn’t hold some directors accountable for certain issues.