RE:RE:Sandpiper's proposed board member... caution...Well I guess they have good taste, I've also owned Dream Office. I believe they sold 1 million shares in the 16s but still hold 8.5% of the company, they stated they liked Dream Office still but they wished to invest elsewhere, maybe there was another opportunity, maybe they were overlevaraged. Of course entrenched management doesn't like activist investors, doesn't mean they aren't aligned with the unitholders.
Without being on the inside, it's really hard to see what happens but the timeline seems to suggest that Sandpiper was influencial in course correcting Artis - they initiatied their strategic review, Calgary dispositions, increased focus on industrials, buybacks, etc. months after Sandpiper came with a board member. Is it a coincidence, I wouldn't be sure about that unless I see some evidence otherwise. Also they changed the related party structure in 2017 so they didn't have to divulge details of the construction company where there's the son of the CEO and 3 nephews as directors, Sandpiper claims it's where they started talking to the CEO. For a REIT that had been doing the same old same old for awhile, why these big changes? Why looking to sell Artis or now undoing the spinoff - on the surface they seem very influential. Sandpiper also has been involved here for 3 years so I'm thinking they were trying to influence things internally before going this route and just didn't see them heading in the right direction with their latest moves including the spinoff.
Yes Martens and co founded the company, great job, but this is a publlic REIT and we own the company as unitholders, they are accountable to us including CEO pay and value creation. The entire family are all very wealthy, CEO gets paid at least 3 million a year, really this is about doing whats right for maximizing the value for unitholders and if the board/CEO are aligned then they can buy shares themselves and make money that way instead of feeding at the trough and eating away the bottom line.
So Sandpiper gets into an oil company and it goes in receivership, ok that happens but they kindof look like they know what they are doing in the REIT space and the board members they have chosen seem impressive. I'm invested to make money not to be part of a family where the stock stagnates and they cut dividend in half making their payout is among the lowest in the industry while the family and nboard nets 10s of millions a year. Sell it if you have to, unlock that value, that works for unitholders. If a public company doesn't meet its potential for years, then you will start seeing activists getting involved.
warrenbluffit wrote: Exactly.. some of you might want to research Sandpiper a little better.. I also invest in Dream Office, he was trying to stir the pot there, but got burned, pound his chest that he owned over 10% of it, then Covid hit and I guaranteed he had his margin account called and lost millions of dollars.. Cooper has very little respect for this guy which tells you a lot. Also if you follow Artis those were not his ideas at all, give credit where credit is due, yes Armin made mistakes on the board, but as far as management goes you cant compared the two. Samir is not a creator, he is an opportunist and selfserve investor. I guarantee you he has zero personal money here.
Artis just had their AGM , they just had a great quarter why can't they all sit together and actually figure something out that benefit us and not one of them personally?
This is looking like a high school fight... but it wont go legal Sandpiper will call for proxy votes and probabbly win it since people clearly don't to their research.. tehm God bless and protect us.