- To ensure your vote is counted, shareholders are encouraged to vote their BLUE Proxy today in advance of the voting deadline of Friday, May 3, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. (EST)
- Knight is providing an easy to follow video to ensure all shareholders are able to vote
- Questions? Need help? Contact Kingsdale Advisors at 1-888-518-1552 or at contactus@kingsdaleadvisors.com
MONTREAL, May 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Knight Therapeutics Inc. (TSX: GUD) ("Knight"), a Canadian specialty pharmaceutical company, thanks shareholders for their overwhelming support ahead of the upcoming Annual Meeting of Shareholders and encourages all shareholders who haven’t yet voted to vote their BLUE proxy today for the director nominees who are aligned with their interests and support Jonathan Goodman’s original vision for Knight.
The deadline to vote is Friday, May 3, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. (EST).
“I want to thank all shareholders for their support and encouragement over the past several weeks as we’ve been forced to deal with disgruntled activist director Meir Jakobsohn and his scheme to gain access to our cash to gamble on high-risk products that will disproportionately benefit his private company,” said CEO Jonathan Goodman. “Shareholders have overwhelmingly expressed their full support of Knight under the leadership of our board of directors who are executing on a proven strategy that is working. For those that have not voted, I urge you to vote your BLUE proxy today. Every vote counts.”
As the deadline nears, while Mr. Jakobsohn tries to distract shareholders with misinformation, shareholders are urged to consider the facts:
- Knight is executing on disciplined investment strategy that is building significant long-term value. Over the past five years Knight has:
° Generated $219 million in net income – amongst the highest level of net income of any specialty pharmaceutical company in Canada
° Raised $685 million at increasing valuations from $3.50 to $10.00
° Evaluated over 1000 product opportunities and deployed or committed over $350 million of capital
° Acquired a portfolio of 17 innovative prescription products and developed a rest-of-world infrastructure
- Since Mr. Jakobsohn launched his proxy battle, Knight and its board has received unanimous support from equity analysts that cover the company.
° Raymond James, Paradigm Capital, Cormark Securities, GMP Securities, Bloom Burton Securities, and National Bank have all encouraged shareholders to vote their BLUE proxies
° Many of the analysts also explicitly warned shareholders against Mr. Jakobsohn’s “significantly risky” plan
- Mr. Jakobsohn and his nominees are not qualified to sit on the board of a leading pharmaceutical company in Canada. Voting for any of his nominees would risk derailing our success.
° Mr. Jakobsohn’s slate has NO entrepreneurial pharma experience, NO product acquisition or in-licencing experience, NO capital markets, NO M&A experience, and NO CEO candidate
° Mr. Jakobsohn does not understand the Canadian pharma market, has limited pharmaceutical experience outside Israel and Romania and has an unimpressive track record: Medison, his own private company in Israel, has experienced consecutive years of declining profits and diminishing returns
° Mr. Jakobsohn’s slate was selected by him to execute his scheme to gamble on high risk products. If his bets pay off, Medison will disproportionately benefit as a partner to Knight. If his bets don’t pay off, Knight shareholders will suffer
- Leading independent proxy advisors, Glass, Lewis & Co., LLC ("Glass Lewis") and Institutional Shareholders Services Inc., (“ISS”) have both recommended that shareholders reject Mr. Jakobsohn’s attempt to take control of Knight’s Board and that shareholders WITHHOLD their votes for Mr. Jakobsohn personally.
° Glass Lewis highlighted Mr. Jakobsohn’s “poor attendance record, affiliated status and lingering concerns with respect to his motivations and behavior during this campaign”
° ISS stated that “Jakobsohn's agenda carries significant risk” and that the “emergence of his campaign after an apparently uneventful three-year relationship between the two companies also raises concerns about [Mr. Jakobsohn’s] potential motivation”
DON’T DELAY - VOTE YOUR BLUE PROXY TODAY
Don’t risk your Knight investment to Meir Jakobsohn, his risky scheme, and inexperienced director nominees.
We encourage shareholders vote the BLUE Proxy or Voting Instruction Form (VIF) FOR the Knight board nominees who are aligned with their interests and the original vision of Knight.
Shareholders who have never voted before or want to learn more about how to vote are encouraged to view this short, easy to follow video.
The deadline to vote is Friday, May 3, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. (EST). Shareholders with questions regarding voting the BLUE Proxy or VIF should visit Knight’s website or contact Knight's strategic shareholder advisor and proxy solicitation agent, Kingsdale Advisors, who can be reached by toll-free telephone in North America at 1-888-518-1552, by collect call outside North America at 416-867-2272, or by email at contactus@kingsdaleadvisors.com.
Advisors
Knight has retained Kingsdale Advisors as its strategic shareholder and communications advisor, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP as its legal advisor, and RBC Capital Markets as its financial advisor.
About Knight Therapeutics Inc.
Knight Therapeutics Inc., headquartered in Montreal, Canada, is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on acquiring or in-licensing and commercializing innovative pharmaceutical products for the Canadian and select international markets. Knight Therapeutics Inc.’s shares trade on TSX under the symbol GUD. For more information about Knight Therapeutics Inc., please visit the company’s web site at www.gud-knight.com or www.sedar.com.
Forward-Looking Statement
This document contains forward-looking statements for Knight Therapeutics Inc. and its subsidiaries. These forward-looking statements, by their nature, necessarily involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Knight Therapeutics Inc. considers the assumptions on which these forward-looking statements are based to be reasonable at the time they were prepared, but cautions the reader that these assumptions regarding future events, many of which are beyond the control of Knight Therapeutics Inc. and its subsidiaries, may ultimately prove to be incorrect. Factors and risks, which could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations are discussed in Knight Therapeutics Inc.'s Annual Report and in Knight Therapeutics Inc.'s Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2018. Knight Therapeutics Inc. disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information or future events, except as required by law.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Investor Contact:
Knight Therapeutics Inc.
Samira Sakhia
President & Chief Financial Officer
T: 514-678-8930
F: 514-481-4116
info@gudknight.com
www.gud-knight.com
Media Contact:
Kingsdale Advisors
Ian Robertson
Executive Vice President, Communication Strategy
Direct: 416-867-2333
Cell: 647-621-2646
irobertson@kingsdaleadvisors.com
