NY Times names 2 board nominees

By Kenneth Li and Michele Gershberg

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Times Co said on Tuesday it nominated two new candidates for its board ahead of an attempt by a dissident investor group to add four directors to its slate.

The investor group formed by Firebrand Partners and hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners said in a filing on Monday it doubled its stake in the publisher of the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune to about 10 percent,

The group plans to seek four of the Times's 13 board seats and push the newspaper group to move more aggressively into digital media.

The pedigree of the new Times nominees, who serve on the boards of top technology and Internet companies, appear to address some of the investor group's concerns.

Robert Denham, the former chief executive of Salomon Inc, is a partner in law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson, whose co-founder Charlie Munger is a top lieutenant for Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett. Denham also serves on the board of Alcatel-Lucent.

Dawn Lepore is CEO of Drugstore.com and a board member of online auctioneer eBay Inc.

They will be up for election at the company's annual meeting on April 22.

"We view the digital realm as vitally key to our future," New York Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis said.