Publicly traded iron ore mining company Cliffs Natural Resources and New York hedge fund Casablanca Capital are relying on outside PR counsel in a proxy battle.
Cliffs has engaged Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher and D.F. King & Co. as it fends off a challenge and break-up plan from Casablanca ahead of the company's July 29 annual meeting.
Casablanca, which is working with Sard Verbinnen & Co., has blasted Cliffs' "entrenched, incompetent board" as a "refuge for failed CEOs" who are trying to cling to power. The investment manager, which cites $9B in "ill-conceived" investments by the board, has also brought in Okapi Partners to woo shareholders and set up fixcliffs.com in support of its six-candidate board slate with plans to break up and sell Cliffs assets.
Cliffs, with first quarter revenue of $940M, down 17.6%, is telling shareholders that its nine-member slate is the best choice as it follows a strategic shift started in July 2013 amid volatile iron ore and met coal prices. It pitches Casablanca in pursuit of short-term gains, noting the firm didn't own a single share until November.
" Casablanca’s purported “strategy” is an ill-advised sale of Cliffs’ assets in a low commodity cycle, which would come at the expense of all other Cliffs shareholders," Cliffs said in a letter to shareholders.
Joele Frank partner Meaghan Repko and managing director Andrea Rose support Cliffs' in-house team, which includes Pat Persico (corporate comms.) and Jessica Moran (IR).
Sard CEO George Sard and managing director Matt Benson rep Casablanca.
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