Forest pushes new board members in fight vs Icahn

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Forest Laboratories Inc <FRX.N> said it plans to nominate a 10-person board slate that includes three new members at its shareholder meeting, as the drugmaker fends off a challenge from billionaire investor Carl Icahn.

In addition to seven incumbents, Forest plans to nominate Christopher Coughlin, former chief financial officer of Tyco International Ltd <TYC.N>; Gerald Lieberman, former president of AllianceBernstein Holding LP <AB.N>; and Brenton Saunders, CEO of eye-care company Bausch & Lomb. Previously, Forest's board had had nine members.

Icahn, who is Forest's fourth-largest shareholder with a roughly 7 percent stake, is pushing four separate nominees for the board.

(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)