March 18 (Reuters) - Activist investor Starboard Value

is preparing to wage a proxy fight at the design-software maker

Autodesk ( ADSK ), the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

Starboard has a more than $500 million stake in Autodesk ( ADSK ) and

intends to nominate a minority slate of director candidates

ahead of the tech company's coming annual meeting, the report

said, citing people familiar with the matter.