Icahn names four nominees for Motorola board

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Activist investor Carl Icahn said on Friday he plans to nominate former Viacom Inc (VIAb.N: Quote, Profile, Research) chief Frank Biondi and three other directors to Motorola Inc's (MOT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) board.

Motorola said it would review the notice, which came a day after the company said it was considering splitting off its mobile phone unit, apparently giving in to pressure from Icahn to break up the business.

Icahn and his associates own about 5 percent of Motorola, according to company, which said it has not yet scheduled its 2008 annual shareholder meeting.

The billionaire investor, who failed to win a seat on Motorola's board last year after a bitter proxy battle, said that this year he was nominating four directors including Biondi.

Biondi, who headed Viacom for about a decade, had helped in Icahn's proxy battle against Time Warner Inc (TWX.N: Quote, Profile, Research), agreeing to be CEO of the media giant if Icahn won his proxy campaign.

His other nominees include brokerage WR Hambrecht Chairman William Hambrecht and Lionel Kimerling, a professor for Materials Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Keith Meister, the fourth nominee, is a managing director for Icahn's investment funds.

Motorola shares closed up $1.16, or more than 10 percent, at $12.69 on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew, editing by Richard Chang)