Icahn drops push to unseat Clorox board

(Reuters) - Billionaire investor Carl Icahn withdrew his slate of nominees for Clorox Co's <CLX.N> board, saying many of the bleach maker's shareholders would not support his effort to unseat the board and may not think it is the right time to sell the company.

Icahn, Clorox's largest shareholder, last month nominated himself, his son and nine other people for election to the board at its next annual shareholder meeting after the board twice rejected his earlier offers to buy the company.

In a regulatory filing on Friday, Icahn repeated his belief that "the best way to ultimately maximize shareholder value is through a sale" of Clorox to a strategic buyer.

But Icahn also said he understands shareholder concerns the difficult conditions in the financial markets mean "now is not the best time" to sell Clorox and that Icahn's offer to buy Clorox for $80 per share undervalues the company.

(Reporting by Phil Wahba in New York; editing by Andre Grenon)