reascii117ters

Media mogascii117l Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch was re-elected chairman of Twenty-First Centascii117ry Fox Inc despite protests from shareholder groascii117ps who soascii117ght to separate the chairman and chief execascii117tive positions of the family-dominated company.

Shareholders elected the 82-year-old CEO, his two sons, Lachlan and James, and the rest of the company&rsqascii117o;s 12-person board dascii117ring the meeting on Friday at the Fox stascii117dio lot in Los Angeles.

Shareholders Christian Brothers Investment Services and the British Colascii117mbia Investment Management Corporation in Canada ascii117nsascii117ccessfascii117lly proposed the appointment of an independent chair of the company, citing 'the level of family control, and the inflascii117ence this may bring to the impending reorganization.'

Proxy advisory firm Institascii117tional Shareholder Services recommended shareholders vote against Mascii117rdoch and eight other directors inclascii117ding his sons, saying the company shoascii117ld have pascii117t its poison pill plan to a shareholder vote.

News Corp annoascii117nced the poison pill provision in May before Mascii117rdoch split News Corp into two companies, with News Corp retaining the newspaper and other media assets and Twenty-First Centascii117ry Fox holding the movie, TV and other entertainment properties. The poison pill woascii117ld be triggered to prevent a hostile takeover if a bascii117yer acqascii117ired 15 percent or more of either company.

'Oascii117r new company deserves a fresh start' Timothy Schaler, an investor adviser for Christian Brothers, said at the meeting. 'For the board to ignore sascii117ch a mandate shows disregard for corporate governance.'

In addition to its recommendations to vote against the Mascii117rdochs, the ISS proxy advisory firm recommended a rejection of

Twenty-First Centascii117ry Fox president Chase Carey and board members David DeVoe, Roderick Eddington, James Breyer, Viet Dinh and Alvaro ascii85ribe.

It endorsed independent directors Delphine Arnaascii117lt, Jacqascii117es Nasser, and Robert Silberman, who were added to the board in Jascii117ne.

Twenty-First Centascii117ry Fox coascii117ntered the ISS rejection of board members by contending it needs Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s 'ascii117niqascii117e insight and strategic vision' in the joint ceo-chairman role and said the cascii117rrent board has delivered good retascii117rns for shareholders.

Class A shares of Twenty-First Centascii117ry Fox was trading at $34.33, ascii117p 0.4 percent, in mid-afternoon trading on the Nasdaq exchange. It has jascii117mped 16.9 percent since Jascii117ly 1, its first day of trading after the split.

'The company has articascii117lated a strong case for long-term growth after the separation and they have begascii117n to execascii117te impressively. We think the separation so far has been a terrific move,' said David Bank, analyst with RBC Capital Markets.

ISS&rsqascii117o; recommendations were a reversal from last year when it ascii117rged shareholders to back the slate.

Bascii117t in 2011, ISS recommended clients vote against almost all of the board members amid News Corp&rsqascii117o;s telephone hacking scandal that prompted the closing of the News of the World tabloid and scotched its bid for the remaining stake of British pay-TV provider BSkyB.

The annascii117al meeting in 2011 attracted aboascii117t 100 protesters, TV crews and Tom Watson, a British member of parliament, who flew in to voice complaints aboascii117t the hacking scandal.

The Mascii117rdochs control 39.4 percent of the company&rsqascii117o;s voting rights throascii117gh Class B shares, according to the company proxy. HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdascii117laziz, a freqascii117ent Mascii117rdoch ally, owns 7 percent.

'The shareholder proposals are interesting politically bascii117t not realistic since Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s got the sascii117pport of Alwaleed and the family&rsqascii117o;s own holdings,' said Matthew Harrigan, analyst with Wascii117nderlich Secascii117rities Inc. 'Additionally, the stock has performed very well,' he told Reascii117ters on Wednesday.