In Eleventh-Hour Smear Attempt, Quigley Management Sacrifices Key Employee of its Pharma Division
May 19 2009 - 2:47PM
PR Newswire (US)
WOODMERE, N.Y., May 19 /PRNewswire/ -- In an eleventh-hour attempt
to smear Ted Karkus, The Quigley Corporation (NASDAQ:QGLY) has
issued a press release claiming that there was some improper
financial arrangement between Dr. Richard Rosenbloom, a key staff
member of a subsidiary of Quigley, and Mr. Ted Karkus, who leads a
group of dissident shareholders who have offered their own slate of
Quigley's Board of Directors for election at the annual meeting
scheduled for Wednesday, May 20, 2009. Mr. Karkus had loaned Dr.
Rosenbloom a total of $55,000 over a period of approximately six
months. The loans were sought by Dr. Rosenbloom for personal
purposes. They are reflected in a written promissory note that
provides, appropriately, for repayment of the loan and the payment
of interest, and are secured by other assets of Dr. Rosenbloom. Mr.
Karkus did not seek, nor did he receive, any "inside information"
in connection with the loan or otherwise. Mr. Karkus has stated: "I
am proud to have been in a position to help out someone in need.
For the Company to attempt to manufacture a scandal on the last day
of voting is disgraceful. It is quite obvious that they knew about
this loan before today, and for the Company to treat Richard
Rosenbloom so disgracefully is truly reprehensible." Quigley has
apparently determined to suspend, and perhaps discharge, Dr.
Rosenbloom as a result of his alleged failure to report the loans
to the CEO, Mr. Guy Quigley. Putting aside the question of what
right Mr. Guy Quigley had to demand reports of this kind, the
willingness of The Quigley Corporation to sacrifice Dr. Rosenbloom
in an effort to impugn Mr. Karkus must be of grave concern to all
shareholders. As the Company just stated in its Form 10-K, filed on
March 9, 2009: The Company's Future Success Depends on the
Continued Employment of Richard A. Rosenbloom, M.D., Ph.D., with
Pharma. Pharma's potential new products are being developed through
the efforts of Dr. Rosenbloom. The loss of his services could have
a material adverse effect on the Company's product development and
future operations. In short, Mr. Guy Quigley is willing to subject
your Company to this possible material adverse effect and to
jeopardize the Company's product development and future operations,
all in the name of avoiding a loss of control. Quigley has loosely
alluded to discovery responses made by Mr. Ted Karkus in recent
litigation that Quigley began against him and other members of the
his group (but, notably, that Quigley has since voluntarily
abandoned). The Company's discovery was focused on officers and
directors of The Quigley Corporation. Dr. Rosenbloom is neither an
officer nor director of the Quigley Corporation and instead is on
the staff of a wholly-owned subsidiary. Whatever else may be made
of the record of the now-dismissed action, there is no proper basis
for any claim of impropriety. Unfortunately, the entire affair
reveals the lengths that entrenched management will go, and the
injury they are willing to inflict on both a key staff member of
the Pharma subsidiary and the Company's overall interests, in order
to stay in office. The Karkus group respectively urges the
shareholders to replace the Board of Directors on May 20, 2009, and
elect directors that will put the interests of the Company and its
shareholders first. VOTING INSTRUCTIONS: Only your last vote
counts. Simply find the control # on our lightly shaded Blue Voting
Instruction Form. This is the voting form that has the Ted Karkus
list of Shareholder Nominees on it. Then call (800) 454-8683 or go
to http://www.proxyvote.com/ and input your control # when
prompted. It is that simple to vote or to change your vote. You may
also call the Shareholder Nominees' proxy solicitor, The Altman
Group, toll free at (866) 796-7175, if you have any questions or
need assistance. Finally, Mr. Karkus welcomes all calls to discuss
the Company and its future with any or shareholders. He is
available at (516) 569-9999. Important Additional Information Ted
Karkus, Mark Burnett, John DeShazo, Mark Frank, Louis Gleckel, MD,
Mark Leventhal and James McCubbin (the "Shareholder Nominees")
filed a definitive proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the "SEC") on May 1, 2009 in connection with the 2009
Annual Meeting of Stockholders of The Quigley Corporation.
Stockholders are strongly advised to read the Shareholder Nominees'
proxy statement as it contains important information. Stockholders
may obtain an additional copy of the Shareholder Nominee's
definitive proxy statement and any other documents filed by them
with the SEC for free at the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov/.
Additionally, copies of the definitive proxy statement are
available for free at http://www.shareholdermaterial.com/qgly.
DATASOURCE: Ted Karkus CONTACT: Ted Karkus, +1-516-569-9999, or
Paul Schulman, The Altman Group, Inc., +1-201-806-2206 Web Site:
http://www.proxyvote.com/
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