In a 2/19/07 cover story Barron's had the following to say: "Nardelli's successor, Frank Blake, has been in touch with Whitworth in recent weeks, even meeting with him in late January at a hotel in Los Angeles. Among other things, the company agreed to give Relational a seat on the Home Depot board, filled by Whitworth's partner, David Batchelder, 57, to head off a threatened proxy fight. Last week, Home Depot appeared to cave in to a key Whitworth demand: that it consider splitting off or selling its wholesale-supply unit, which Nardelli had established to sell construction goods to commercial builders and government buyers." 12/5/06: In an amended 13D filing on Sovereign Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: SOV) after the close, 6.7% holder Relational Investors disclosed a letter sent to Citigroup Michael Diana refuting speculation of a deal between Relational Investors and Banco Santander (NYSE: STD) on a sale of the company. Note: Sold entire position of CEN on 4/10/07 From streetinsider.com

In a 2/19/07 profile in Barron's the following was said about Relational s involvement in the ousting of former HD CEO Robert Nardelli: "Nardelli's successor, Frank Blake, has been in touch with Whitworth in recent weeks, even meeting with him in late January at a hotel in Los Angeles. Among other things, the company agreed to give Relational a seat on the Home Depot board, filled by Whitworth's partner, David Batchelder, 57, to head off a threatened proxy fight. Last week, Home Depot appeared to cave in to a key Whitworth demand: that it consider splitting off or selling its wholesale-supply unit, which Nardelli had established to sell construction goods to commercial builders and government buyers." Commenting on Home Depot (NYSE: HD) to Bloomberg News on 12/18/06, Relational Investors' Ralph Whitworth said he wants at least two seats on the board and thinks the stock is 50% undervalued. Whitworth doesn't necessarily want a new Home Depot CEO. Whitworth advice to Home Depot is to "mind the stores." Earlier today Home Depot disclosed Relational Investors' proposal to appoint a special committee of independent directors to evaluate the strategic direction of the Company, the performance of management and strategic alternatives for the Company. The company opposes the proposal but will meet with the investment firm. From streetinsider.com

According to Barron's, Whitworth had this to say regarding the company: "We love the company because they have taken our advice on capital allocation, board structure and executive compensation...The company has done a great job of dumping underperforming units to fatten its cash flow and return on equity, and is now in the sweet spot of life- insurance and retirement-industry products."

4/3/07 In an amended 13D filing after the close Friday on Unum Group (NYSE: UNM), Relational Investors disclosed a 7.49% stake (25.7 million shares) in the company. This is up from the 6.21% stake (21.3 million shares) the firm disclosed in the original 13D filing in mid-March.

Relational announced on 4-12-07 it took a 1% position in Sprint Nextel.

No Analysis added

No Analysis added

No Analysis added