April 8 (Reuters) - Billionaire Carl Icahn's refiner CVR Energy, the largest shareholder in Delek US Holdings which has been trying to choose three members of that refiner's board, filed a lawsuit on Thursday seeking to inspect books and records of Delek relating to its CEO compensation. (https://bit.ly/3e1Xp4T)
The lawsuit wants information about total compensation of Delek CEO Ezra Uzi Yemen, which CVR alleges was near $81 million between 2013 and 2020. CVR says that total includes revenue not disclosed in company proxy statements.
Last month, Delek US Holdings rejected CVR's nominees to its board, days after Icahn's company questioned the CEO compensation and sent the initial demand letter.
CVR CEO David Lamp specifically questioned the 5% general partnership interest Uzi Yemin held in Delek Logistics Partners that was bought out in 2020 for $21.4 million by Delek U.S. Holdings.
"The reasons why Yemin was granted that interest are unclear, given the extraordinary existing compensation he was already receiving for his service as Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of both Delek and Logistics," the lawsuit states.
CVR also claims that Delek twice rejected CVR's request for the additional documents establishing Yemin's pay.
"Yemin appears to be absolutely determined that additional information about his compensation not become public and is willing to freely spend Delek’s money on lawyers to prevent that from happening," the lawsuit states.
Delek did not respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Arundhati Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M. and David Gregorio)
