By Kevin McCauley
Embattled St. Joe, one of Florida’s biggest private land owners, is using Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher as it moves to fend off an effort by two former directors to oust management due to its lackluster performance.
Investors Bruce Berkowitz and Charlie Fernandez of Fairholme Capital Management, owner of 30 percent of St. Joe shares, stepped down Feb. 14 from the real estate developer’s board after six months of service.
They have hired headhunter Spencer Stuart to recruit directors to fill out a seven or nine member board to replace the current directors.
A website, takebackjoe.com , is under development to get shareholder input. Charlie Crist, former Governor of the Sunshine State, has been put forth as a director by the Fairholme group
According to Florida law, a majority of shareholders by written consent can remove an existing board of directors.
St. Joe blames the housing slump for the red ink that it suffered during the past 10 consecutive quarters. It lost $13M on $27M during its latest period.
The company on Feb. 8 announced that it has retained Morgan Stanley to study financial and alternative strategies to bolster shareholder values.
The board yesterday adopted a shareholder rights plan to “reduce the likelihood that any person or group would gain control of the company by open market accumulation or other coercive takeover tactics.”
Joele Frank and Andrew Siegel work the media for St. Joe.
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