Engine Capital Calls on Dye & Durham to Hold Special Meeting of Shareholders Without Further Delay
September 19 2024 - 7:15AM
Business Wire
Informs Shareholders that the Special Meeting
Could Realistically Take Place by End of October if Scheduled
Promptly
Urges Independent Directors to Hire Their Own
Separate Independent Legal Advisor Given Potential Conflicts
Engine Capital LP (together with its affiliates, “Engine” or
“we”), which owns approximately 7.1% of Dye & Durham Limited’s
(TSX: DND) (“Dye & Durham” or the “Company”) outstanding
shares, today issued the below letter to the Company’s Board of
Directors (the “Board”).
***
September 19, 2024
Dye & Durham Limited 1100-25 York Street Toronto, Canada M5J
2V5 Attention: The Board of Directors (the “Board”)
Members of the Board,
Now that the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (the “Court”) has
dismissed litigation between the Company and shareholder OneMove
Capital, the Board no longer has an excuse to delay the Special
Meeting of Shareholders ("Special Meeting") that we called more
than six months ago.1 If scheduled promptly, the Special Meeting
could realistically take place before the end of October. It is
incumbent upon the Company’s independent directors – Chair Colleen
Moorehead, Brian Derksen, Ted Prittie, Peter Brimm, and Ronnie Wahi
– to not permit any further delays or tactical entrenchment
maneuvers. We suspect CEO Matthew Proud will now seek to combine
the Special Meeting with the Annual General Meeting to further
postpone the meeting from its original August date until some time
in December – an extraordinary nine months after our requisition.
We urge Ms. Moorehead and the other independent directors to
finally stand up to the CEO, not go along with those efforts, and
allow shareholders to have their voices heard as soon as
possible.
We also believe it is critical for the independent directors to
hire their own separate independent legal advisor, whose sole
mandate is to represent them. This is critical for two reasons.
First, we believe the interests of the independent directors are
increasingly at odds with the interests of Mr. Proud. At this
juncture, Mr. Proud appears primarily focused on holding onto his
CEO position while the independent directors are required to act in
the interests of the Company. Second, we have concerns regarding
Mr. Proud’s close friendship with the Company’s regular counsel who
is currently advising the Board. In these circumstances, we would
expect that the Board would take steps to ensure it is receiving
advice from counsel who is independent and does not answer to the
Company’s CEO. The current situation is ripe with potential
conflicts and needs to be corrected, which is why we have privately
made this point to Ms. Moorehead for months.
We also want to address the Company’s recent misleading
statement that it “has made multiple efforts to negotiate in good
faith with the Activist Shareholders, including offering them two
additional board seats as part of a reasonable and balanced
solution.”2 While Engine cannot speak to the Company’s discussions
with other shareholders, Engine questions how Ms. Moorehead
(current Chair) and Mr. Derksen (former Chair) could approve such a
statement when they know full well that since calling the Special
Meeting, Engine and the Company have been seemingly close to
reaching a resolution on more than one occasion, only to have the
Board change course or cease communication altogether with us. In a
continued effort to resolve this situation privately in good faith,
Engine proposed detailed settlement terms in July but has yet to
receive a response despite our repeated attempts to engage since
then. Again, if the independent directors could stand up to Mr.
Proud, we believe a settlement would have been reached a long time
ago. We believe the presence of an independent legal advisor would
go a long way toward creating those conditions.
Sincerely,
Arnaud Ajdler Managing Partner
No Solicitation
This press release does not constitute a solicitation of a proxy
within the meaning of applicable laws, and accordingly, DND
shareholders are not being asked to give, withhold or revoke a
proxy.
About Engine Capital
Engine Capital LP is a value-oriented special situations fund
that invests both actively and passively in companies undergoing
change.
______________________________ 1 Engine Capital requisitioned a
Special Meeting of Dye & Durham shareholders on March 10, 2024.
2 Dye & Durham September 17, 2024 press release.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240919965120/en/
For Investors:
Engine Capital LP 212-321-0048 info@enginecap.com
For Media:
Longacre Square Partners Charlotte Kiaie / Bela Kirpalani,
646-386-0091 ckiaie@longacresquare.com /
bkirpalani@longacresquare.com
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