Post by
CSIGroup on Jun 02, 2015 6:54pm
June 15 shareholder vote has been canceled
Shareholder vote canceled
Clifton star was notified by ex-CEO Harry Miller that he would not be proceeding with his attempt to get an alternative board of directors up for a shareholder vote on June 15. They claimed "It is clear that Mr. Miller heard from our shareholders, concluded he had very limited support, and decided to bow out." This could not be further from the truth. From the start, Miller claimed he was approached by shareholders pleading with him to do something to turn the company around. The eventual presentation of a new board of directors was due to that strong support. Present management, in their ineptness, had miserably and completely failed to renegotiate the Duparquet project, and finally lost the company's prime asset.
Miller was paying for the campaign out of his own pocket. Meanwhile, Clifton management could spend virtually unlimited funds from the corporate bank account. It was never a fair contest. The company spent up to $200,000 to hire a proxy firm to pad the vote count for the current directors when they ran unopposed in December. They undoubtedly were prepared to spend another $200,000 this time. It is unlikely that any member of management paid one single dollar of his own money, then or now.
They then went on to say they would go back to their "long-term strategic plan to create value." What plan? If Clifton Star shareholders really had confidence in management, the bid for the stock would have gone up when uncertainty surrounding the shareholder vote was eliminated. Instead, the bid of .165 is down about 30% from its recent .24 peak. Management feels no pressure now to increase shareholder value which to shareholders means an increase in the share price. Everything else is meaningless.