Activism Snapshot
Arex Capital came out firing against the board and management team at Enhabit (EHAB) this week in a scathing letter to EHAB shareholders. Arex Capital has many issues with the company, but one we certainly agree with is that the pre-planned retirement of four directors does not constitute “board refreshment.” And, given the board has overseen a loss of 60% of market cap in the past ~2 years, we also agree that they need real board refreshment. Interesting to us is that in its preliminary proxy, Arex chooses to make no recommendation with respect to the Say-On-Pay vote for executive compensation. At last year’s vote, 87% of shareholders voted for the measure, so already showing signs of discontent. We expect that number to drop even lower at this year’s vote.
F9 Investments released their preliminary proxy in the LL Flooring Holdings (LL) fight. F9 Investments is recommending for its 3 nominees and against 3 of the company’s nominees — Douglas T. Moore, Ashish Parma, and Nancy M. Taylor. They are making no recommendation on Jerald Hammann who has put himself forward to be elected. Unlike Arex at EHAB, F9 Investments is recommending a vote against Say-On-Pay. Again, we expect to see a number below last year’s 88% FOR, but given the relatively low compensation of $1.9M in 2023, don’t expect to see the support drop too dramatically unless as part of the broader message regarding performance.
Masimo (MASI) vs. Politan, here we go! In press release out just today Masimo announced it is nominating Christopher Chavez to the board following Rolf Classon’s unexpected resignation from the board early in May. The Masimo team believes Chavez to be a experienced, proven operator in the medical device sector that will help drive the company forward. In addition, Masimo offered to Politan that they would also add Politan nominee William Jensen to the board, but Politan declined.
Institutional Shareholder (ISS) came out in support of Medallion Financial’s (MFIN) board nominees. ISS bases its support on MFIN’s TSR outperformance, collaboration with shareholders, and continued growth generally. For its part, ZimCal filed a DFAN14A with its letter to shareholders from the 28th of May. In the letter, ZimCal argues that there are two big reasons why MFIN’s board is against putting their nominees on the board. First, MFIN is embroiled in SEC investigations where the SEC will seek “some of the harshest penalties against Mr. Murstein and Medallion” and, if ZimCal’s nominees join the board they will call for an independent investigation. Second, they believe “Mr. Murstein…knows that if we are elected, his very comfortable perks and excessive compensation might be severely impacted.” For context, in 2023 CEO Alvin Murstein made $3M with over half, $1.6M, of that in nonequity incentive plan compensation. His overall compensation also includes $26k for a car lease, some amount for a garage, some amount for car insurance, and a country club membership for him to drive his leased car to.
On May 23rd WisdomTree (WT) posted a 23-page investor presentation to make its case for the board and management. This week ETFS Capital shared its response stating the presentation “was a continuation of its playbook and continued to avoid engaging with the central issue of our campaign, a flawed and value destructive approach to capital allocation that has led to a significant undervaluation of the Company’s core-ETF business.”
Latest Activism and Governance research from Boardroom Alpha:
- Weekly Activism & Executive Moves Review (May 17)
- Bad Director Votes Should Send a Message (2024 Proxy Voting Update)
- Big Companies with Big Say-On-Pay Issues (2024 Shareholder Say-On-Pay Update)
- BIG Company Directors with LOW Shareholder Support
- BIG Company Directors with LOW Shareholder Support
- CEO Pay: The $25 Million Plus Pay Club
- 2024 Say-On-Pay Votes: 25 Companies Where Shareholders Are Unhappy
ACTIVISM UPDATE
MAY 2024 COOPERATION AGREEMENTS
TARGET | 1-Year TSR | ACTIVIST | SUMMARY | FILING | DATE | STOCK CHANGE | DAYS SINCE |
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ANIKA THERAPEUTICS INC (ANIK) | -6.1% | Caligan Partners LP |
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View Filing | 2024-05-28 | 3.8% | 3 |
PRESIDIO PROPERTY TRUST INC (SQFT) | -5.7% | Zuma Capital Management |
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View Filing | 2024-05-09 | -9.3% | 22 |
ALIGHT INC (ALIT) | -8.6% | Starboard Value |
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View Filing | 2024-05-06 | -19.3% | 25 |
APPLIED DIGITAL CORP (APLD) | -47.2% | Oasis Management Co Ltd. |
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View Filing | 2024-05-01 | 54.9% | 30 |
ZUORA INC (ZUO) | -6.4% | SCALAR GAUGE MANAGEMENT, LLC |
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View Filing | 2024-05-01 | -1.5% | 30 |
TRIUMPH GROUP INC (TGI) | 20.7% | Vision One Management Partners, LP |
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View Filing | 2024-05-01 | 4.3% | 30 |
LATEST 13-D FILINGS
FILED | TICKER | COMPANY | FILED BY | OWNERSHIP | 1-Year TSR | SUMMARY | FILING |
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2024-05-30 | WOW | WIDEOPENWEST INC | LB Partners LLC | 7.9% | -39.3% |
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2024-05-30 – SC 13D |
2024-05-23 | HLGN | HELIOGEN INC | Galloway Capital Partners, LLC | 6.4% | -95.5% | Galloway sent a letter on May 23, 2024 to Julie Kane (Chairperson) and Christiana Obiaya (CEO) of Heliogen. It started with:
“We have been shareholders of Heliogen, Inc. (the “Company” or “Heliogen”) for almost a year. We are quite disappointed with the performance of the Company’s common stock, which is -99.9% in the past year.” |
2024-05-23 – SC 13D |
2024-05-22 | ATRA | ATARA BIOTHERAPEUTICS INC | Adiumentum Capital Fund I LP | 6.7% | -69.0% |
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2024-05-22 – SC 13D |
2024-05-21 | BHR | BRAEMAR HOTELS & RESORTS INC | Al Shams Investments LTD, Said Wafic Rida | 9.8% | -26.9% |
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2024-05-21 – SC 13D, 2024-05-21 – SC 13D |
2024-05-21 | BZFD | BUZZFEED INC | Vivek Ramaswamy | 7.7% | 3.4% |
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2024-05-21 – SCHEDULE 13D |
RECENT PROXY CONTEST RESOLUTIONS
TICKER | COMPANY | MEETING DATE | RESULTS | ACTIVIST SITUATION SUMMARY |
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SBOW | SILVERBOW RESOURCES INC | May 29 (adjourned from May 21) |
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XPER | XPERI INC | May 24 |
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GNK | GENCO SHIPPING & TRADING LTD | May 23 |
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CCI | CROWN CASTLE INC | May 22 |
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LATEST PROXY CONTEST FILINGS
TICKER | COMPANY | MEETING DATE | LATEST PROXY | SUMMARY | TARGET FILINGS | ACTIVIST FILINGS |
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BHR | BRAEMAR HOTELS & RESORTS INC | Jul 30 | 2024-04-11 – PREC14A |
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BRAEMAR HOTELS & RESORTS INC May 23 – DEFA14A May 22 – DEFA14A May 22 – DEFA14A May 21 – DEFA14A May 20 – DEFA14A May 17 – DEFA14A May 16 – DEFA14A May 15 – DEFA14A May 15 – DEFA14A May 14 – DEFA14A |
BLACKWELLS CAPITAL LLC May 20 – DFAN14A May 17 – DFAN14A May 16 – DFAN14A May 16 – DFAN14A May 13 – DFAN14A May 10 – DFAN14A May 09 – DFAN14A May 08 – DFAN14A May 07 – DFAN14A May 03 – DFAN14A |
EHAB | ENHABIT INC | TBD | 2024-05-28 – PREC14A |
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ENHABIT INC May 23 – PREC14A May 23 – DEFA14A |
AREX CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LP May 29 – DFAN14A May 28 – PREC14A May 09 – DFAN14A |
LL | LL FLOORING HOLDINGS INC | Jul 10 | 2024-05-31 – DEFC14A |
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LL FLOORING HOLDINGS INC May 31 – DEFA14A May 31 – DEFC14A May 24 – DEFC14A May 20 – PREC14A May 20 – DEFA14A May 10 – PREC14A Apr 29 – DEFA14A Apr 24 – DEFA14A |
F9 INVESTMENTS LLC May 28 – PRRN14A May 20 – PREC14A |
MASI | MASIMO CORP | TBD | 2024-05-31 – PREC14A |
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MASIMO CORP May 31 – DEFA14A May 31 – PREC14A May 20 – DEFA14A May 16 – DEFA14A May 13 – DEFA14A May 13 – DEFA14A May 09 – DEFA14A Apr 02 – DEFA14A Apr 01 – DEFA14A |
POLITAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LP May 10 – DFAN14A Mar 25 – DFAN14A |
MFIN | MEDALLION FINANCIAL CORP | Jun 11 | 2024-04-29 – DEFC14A |
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MEDALLION FINANCIAL CORP May 28 – DEFA14A May 24 – DEFA14A May 22 – DEFA14A May 21 – DEFA14A May 20 – DEFA14A May 13 – DEFA14A Apr 29 – DEFC14A Apr 18 – PREC14A |
ZIMCAL ASSET MANAGEMENT, LLC May 30 – DFAN14A May 29 – DFAN14A May 29 – DFAN14A May 28 – DFAN14A May 24 – DFAN14A May 21 – DFAN14A May 21 – DFAN14A May 16 – DFAN14A May 13 – DFAN14A May 13 – DFAN14A |
MRC | MRC GLOBAL INC | TBD | 2024-03-19 – PREC14A |
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MRC GLOBAL INC Apr 02 – DEFA14A Mar 19 – DEFA14A |
ENGINE CAPITAL, L.P. Mar 19 – PREC14A Mar 19 – DFAN14A |
NVAX | NOVAVAX INC | TBD | 2024-05-06 – PREC14A |
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NOVAVAX INC Apr 29 – DEFA14A |
SHAH CAPITAL MANAGEMENT May 20 – DFAN14A May 13 – DFAN14A May 08 – DFAN14A May 07 – DFAN14A May 06 – PREC14A May 06 – DFAN14A |
SPRU | SPRUCE POWER HOLDING CORP | TBD | 2024-04-17 – PREC14A |
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SPRUCE POWER HOLDING CORP May 31 – PRRN14A |
CLAYTON PARTNERS LLC Apr 18 – DFAN14A Apr 17 – PREC14A |
WT | WISDOMTREE INC | Jun 12 | 2024-05-03 – DEFC14A |
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WISDOMTREE INC May 23 – DEFA14A May 23 – DEFA14A May 13 – DEFA14A May 06 – DEFA14A Apr 30 – DEFA14A Apr 29 – DEFC14A Apr 29 – DEFA14A Apr 29 – DEFA14A Apr 19 – PREC14A |
ETFS CAPITAL LIMITED May 28 – DFAN14A May 21 – DFAN14A May 14 – DFAN14A May 06 – DFAN14A May 03 – DFAN14A May 03 – DEFC14A Apr 30 – PRRN14A Apr 18 – DFAN14A Apr 17 – PREC14A |