RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:My Feb 7, 2021 Post. No replies to it. Why not?You've opened up many questions and issues, some of which I think are worthy of consideration. Here are some thoughts.
The Skippen contract? Forget this. It's ancient history and I can show you many comp deals that make this look like ho-hum, starting with the whole 2 & 20 thing at pretty much every hedge fund. He largely built WiLAN and he (plus all the shareholders) had the misfortune of running into the America Invents Act, etc.
But I do have concerns regarding the board. If the Chair position were vacant would John Gillberry be the top choice to fill it? I see that last October he started as CEO of Lendified Holdings Inc. (formerly Hampton Bay Capital Inc.). They recently completed a private placement and, regardless, I suspect John is currently pretty close to fully occupied with Lendified.
The votes withheld? To withhold votes is an easy thing to do on a whim. Maybe FGP was annoyed with him over something. Here's a guess. Some on Bay Street would like to see the company split up (which would boost the stock instantly). Maybe FGP pitched for this and John pushed back.
Here's one other little thing. If you look at John's SEDI reports you can see that there are quite a few companies where he's no longer an insider (for whatever reason) but he never filled in the date where it says "Ceased to be an insider." (DataWind, GuestLogix, Imagination Park Entrtainment, Zalo Corp.) It does suggest either a lack of attention to detail or just a kind of tiredness with the whole thing of being an insider and having to bother with SEDI reports.
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An interesting part of trying to figure out the board is the 2018 departure of Michel Fattouche (which I would take to be a bad sign) and the 2020 return of Michel Fattouche (which I would take to be a good sign). His return is part of why I'm not all that concerned about the board.
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It could be that there's some need for the board to be, shall we say, refreshed? Is it an urgent need? I don't really see it. Anna Tosto joining could be seen as part of the board evolving. And it's not like the company is doing all that badly.
Top of the list why I'm not terribly concerned: Paul Hill. The CEO is what matters most and it seems to me like he's doing the right things.
So, shareholder1, what would you do? Come in with a whole new board? Who would you get? And from where? And would you be able to do it without losing Michel Fattouche and/or Paul Hill, among others?
This is an evolution situation and not a revolution situation. You've inspired me to get involved in the evolution conversation and I suspect the company will be just fine to have that conversation. But, again, I don't see any urgency here.