Activist investor SpringOwl has claimed that it has received additional support from independent proxy advisory firms ISS and Glass Lewis & Co. for new resolutions it has proposed to online gaming operator bwin.party.Last month, iGaming Business reported that SpringOwl submitted a number of resolutions to bwin.party, including its intention to place four representative on the company’s board, ahead of the firm’s AGM in Gibraltar on May 22.
SpringOwl initially gained the right to put forward a single nominee under a ‘Relationship Agreement’ with bwin.party after it purchased a 6.1% stake in the operator’s founder when they divorced. The new nominees would be in addition to this.
Bwin.party urged its shareholders to vote against the resolutions due to the lack of information it has received about the nominees and said the resolutions would not be in the best interests of the firm.
However, following SpringOwl founder Jason Ader’s claims that his company had received “incredible support” from some bwin.party shareholders, the activist investor has now received additional backing from ISS and Glass Lewis & Co.
Glass Lewis has announced its support of Michael Fertik, Francis Grady and Steven Rittvo, who have all been put forward as candidates.
“We find [SpringOwl] presents a relatively detailed plan that reflects both industry knowledge and the specific concerns potentially underpinning BWIN’s laggard shareholder returns and faltering operating metrics,” Glass Lewis said in a statement.
“We believe SpringOwl has submitted a clear and compelling case for board-level change, while the incumbent directors have, in turn, centred on middling rebukes of decidedly nominal concerns.
“Rather than confront these flagging metrics, the board has pushed for increasingly liberal executive compensation programmes that provide for discretionary awards to management while the balance of bwin.party’s investors continue to weather unmitigated losses.”
Speaking of its support for SpringOwl candidate Kalendu Patel, ISS said: “After evaluating the dissident and incumbent arguments with respect to the company’s financial and shareholder return performance, strategic track record and governance profile, it appears the dissidents have demonstrated that some change on the board is warranted.
“Patel… has always worked in strategy roles, the most relevant one as head of strategy for Best Buy, a large multinational retailer, which may be relevant to the challenges at hand. Based on the factors discussed above, we conclude that support for nominee Patel is warranted.”
SpringOwl founder Ader added: “We are gratified that both leading voting advisory firms have found that change to the board is in the best interest of shareholders.
“We believe that these four highly qualified independent candidates will significantly contribute to the ability of the reconstituted board to create meaningful value for all bwin.party shareholders.”
source : www.igamingbusiness.com
