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Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher supports Germany’s Knauf in its proxy fight with building products competitor USG Corp. of Chicago.
Knauf, which has made a $5.9B bid for USG, is urging shareholders to vote against four USG director nominees at the May 9 annual meeting.
USG, which relies on Sard Verbinnen & Co., said Knauf’s bid is “wholly inadequate, opportunistic and does not reflect the intrinsic value of the company.”
Knauf, which owns about 10 percent of USG, knocks it for failing to engage in serious negotiations or show “substantive evidence to support its claim that the company is worth more than $42 per-share.”
The Germans have a key ally in their fight. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, owner of 31 percent of USG, plans to vote against the four directors up for election.
Joele Frank, Ed Trissel and Annabelle Rinehart represent Knauf. SV&C’s Jim Barron and Pam Greene work the media for USG.
Josh Hochberg, COO and global head of special situations and investor relations at Edelman Smithfield, has joined ICR as president, communications.
Juleanna Glover’s Ridgely Walsh handles Lupa Systems as James Murdoch’s media & technology investment company acquires New York Magazine, Vox Media Podcast and various digital properties of Vox Media.
Publicis Groupe has acquired LiveRamp, the San Francisco-based data collaboration platform, for $2.2B.
Joele Frank is working the media for Atlanta’s Bitcoin Depot as the country’s largest operator of bitcoin ATMs files for Chapter 11 to begin the wind-down of its business.
Catalyst IR handles Mobix Labs as it signs a “non-binding letter of intent” to acquire Special Project Delivery LLC, a privately-owned platform with positions in US rare earth properties.
