comScore Board Additions Help Fend Off Lawsuit

comScore has given Wesley Nichols, Paul Reilly and Bryan Wiener seats on its Board of Directors, as part of its settlement agreement with one of its largest shareholders Starboard Value.

In July, Starboard acquired a 4.8% stake in comScore, in a bid to force the company to schedule its first Annual General Meeting in two years, following a troubled period when it was revealed that the company was conducting an audit to examine accounting irregularities. In the summer, Starboard filed a case in the Delaware Chancery Court to force comScore to hold meetings, which are required by comScore's own corporate regulations. Because of the firm's failure to hold an AGM since July 2015, only four of its directors had been elected by stockholders, and Starboard said eight should be elected at the meeting.

Of the new directors, Nichols is a predictive analytics specialist who most recently served as SVP, Strategy at Neustar, after it acquired his company MarketShare in 2015; Reilly is a global strategist who previously served as EVP of Arrow Electronics; and Wiener is an Internet entrepreneur, who is currently Executive Chairman of ad agency 360i. They now join the Board alongside the firm's CEO and co-founder Gian Fulgoni, President Bill Livek, Brent Rosenthal, Jacques Kerrest and Sue Riley. Riley, comScore's Board Chair, says the new directors will bring fresh perspectives to the company, as it continues to focus on resolving its pending financial restatements.

Peter Feld, Managing Member of Starboard Value, comments: 'The appointment of these new directors will provide additional insights and valuable expertise to comScore as it continues to focus on profitability and growth. We are pleased to have worked constructively with comScore to reach this agreement, and we are confident that the newly reconstituted board will enhance value for shareholders and improve the company's financial reporting and operations'.

Web site: www.comscore.com .