Clinton Group Declined To Withdraw Shareholders Special Meeting

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Clinton Group declined to unilaterally and voluntarily withdraw its demand for a special meeting of shareholders to consider its proposal to replace five members of the board of ValueVision Media Inc (NASDAQ:VVTV).

Clinton Group ValueVision

Clinton Group refuses meeting with ValueVision

The activist hedge fund also refused to refile for a special meeting in February, and pushed for a late January schedule in response to the request of ValueVision Media Inc (NASDAQ:VVTV)  to postpone it until after the holidays.

Gregory Taxin, president of Clinton Group emphasized that the hedge fund has no intention of distracting the management of ValueVision Media Inc (NASDAQ:VVTV) from running the business during the critical holiday shopping season. However, he pointed out that re-filing its request in February will enable the company to set a special meeting in May.

According to Taxin, ValueVision Media Inc (NASDAQ:VVTV) is “surreptitiously seeking up to a six-month delay” to hold a special meeting through a sympathetic public plea that Christmas is approaching. He said, “We will not be so easily misled or give up our rights as shareholders in a Minnesota corporation.”

He added, “We do not believe shareholder interests are well served by a delay. If avoiding distractions during the holiday shopping season is your true motivation, we reiterate our suggestion to call a late January meeting.”

Clinton Group’s plea

Furthermore, he said that Clinton Group is pleased that the corporate governance and nominating committee of ValueVision Media Inc (NASDAQ:VVTV) will review the qualifications of its nominees. Taxin also stated that the hedge fund is willing to resolve the issue through discussion and negotiation.

Clinton Group is one of the largest shareholders of ValueVision Media Inc (NASDAQ:VVTV) with a 10% stake in the company. Aside from its demand to replace some of the board members of the company, the hedge fund also wants to remove Keith Stewart as CEO. The hedge fund argued that ValueVision failed to meet expectations under Stewart’s leadership.

Randy Ronning’s letter to Clinton Group

Yesterday, Randy Ronning, chairman of the board of ValueVision sent a letter to Clinton Group requesting for the postponement of the special meeting of shareholders. He also pointed out that the company remained focused on executing its value-creating strategies. Stewart reorganized the management team of the company and succeeded in putting ValueVision on a “solid financial and operating footing.”

Ronning argued that the turnaround ValueVision Media Inc (NASDAQ:VVTV)’s  strategy resulted in the outperformance of the share of the company compared with the Russell 2000 index and its peers. He said the company outperformed the Russell 2000 by 800% since the appointment of Stewart in 2009.

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