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Indaba Capital Management, which opposes Stagwell’s revised offer for MDC Partners, criticizes it as a “sweetheart transaction.”
ICM managing partner Derek Schrier dismisses the $100M enhanced bid as “insufficient” and “a small and arbitrary number” when compared to MDC’s $1.8B valuation.
In his June 8 letter to Stagwell CEO Mark Penn, Schrier questions the independence of three directors nominated June 7 by Stagwell for board seats since “they all appear to have professional overlap with you.”
He wrote: “Stagwell seems to be trying to stack the board of directors with your allies and former colleagues. As a potential minority shareholder in the newly combined entity, we find this lack of true independence alarming.”
He urges Stagwell to come up with a credible offer, “rather than continuing to issue press releases ad nauseam and trying to spin shareholders.”
ICM “is ready and willing to engage with you to determine what it will take to earn Indaba’s vote,” wrote Schrier.
MDC’s shareholder meeting is scheduled for June 22.
Stagwell's PR units are SKDKnickerbocker and Sloane & Co, while MDC owns Allison+Partners, Veritas, Hunter and KWT Global.
ICR Inc. handles communications for Enhanced Ltd, which plans to run Olympic-type competitions with athletes using performance-enhancing drugs, as it goes public in a SPAC deal valued at $1.2B via a merger with A Paradise Acquisition Corp. of Hong Kong.
C Street Advisory Group handles strategic communications duties for American Signature Inc. as the Columbus-based home furnishings retailer declares Chapter 11.
Collected Strategies handles Exact Sciences as the cancer screening leader is acquired by Abbott in a deal with an enterprise value of $23B.
Joele Frank represents Philadelphia-based Axalta Coating Systems as it agrees to merge with Amsterdam’s AkzoNobel in a deal valued in the $25B range.
Interpublic posted a 5.1 percent drop in Q3 net revenues to $2.5B as CEO Philippe Krakowsky reports the final financial results of the publicly traded company.
