RE:RE:RE:RE:Who Are Mittleman Bros?I may be interpreting this wrong however from my lense I see a Standstill Agreement enacted on March 28, 2018 (when the Mittleman's were given Board seats and Aimia avoided Proxy contest) and an additional voting and lock-up agreement entered into between Mittleman, the Corporation and each of the Consortium members on August 20, 2018, as amended and extended on November 23, 2018. This was accompanied with the Aeroplan transaction (to ensure no activism toward the deal or the consortium).
Mattywack/Appleguy I agree with you, you make some good points re Mittleman performance and the dividend, as you mentioned the Bros need a win, moreso I believe utilizing Aimia to its fullest will allow them to take a step into the big leagues. As the opportunities arise there seems to be a natural progression or affinity that lures value investors toward purchasing operating/holding companies as they move forward that provide a more efficient investment vehicle than they currently possess. This is attained through float, excess cash, tax losses etc that can be harvested/utilized for future gain.
The initial dividend stated is irrelevant to most unless you were holders prior to June 30, 2017, paying the suspended dividends will allow the company to either repurchase shares or pay dividends moving forward. As long as the Co remains undervalued it would be silly and inefficent to pay dividends to shareholders (beyond what is contractual ie Prefs). Never in my days have I seen a shoddy press release or dividend declaration like this, as Timmins mentioned, not on SEDAR??
To digress away toward the Mittleman fund performance, a study conducted by Joel Greenblatt from 2000 - 2010 notes some interesting points:
Those who were ranked at the top in terms of returns were also at one time ranked at the bottom. Joel Greenblatt notes that 97 percent of those who ended up in the top quartile spent at least three years in the bottom half of performance. What’s more, 79 percent of those with the best ten year record spent at least three years in the bottom quartile, and 47 percent of those who ended with the best ten year record spent at least three years in the bottom decile of performance.
Apologies in advance for rambling