Exclusive-Ancora asks us for a steelboard record and Ratchets Up Proxy Fight
By Svea Herbst-Bayliss
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Activist investor Ancora Holdings is demanding access to records from US steel, ranging from board minutes to financial documents. By Reuters.
Ancora launched a conference room challenge last month with US Steel as the iconic American company is fighting in court to save a planned merger with Japan’s Nippon Steel. The company is asking US courts to put aside the orders of the former US president who cited national security concerns and blocked the deal. US steel says it will need to create layoffs and closed plants if the deal is turned down.
Ankora’s decision to create so-called book and record requests shows how activists use one of the legal tools they can use to win potentially bitter boardroom battles.
In that letter – sent to Megan Bonbok, a consultant of the American Steel Association, Securities & Corporate Secretary – Ancora said in relation to “the company’s waste (litigation)… and “unusual” We told us we wanted to investigate “potential misconduct.” The company’s CEO (David Burritt) trading plan. ”
According to the letter, Ancora determines whether the board violated the fiduciary’s obligations by filing a lawsuit and determines whether Burritt “sought to trade material non-public information.” I’m looking for information to do so.
Investors currently own around 500,000 shares, or less than 1%, in US steel, but say they have plans to significantly increase their position. Once the world’s largest steel producer, the company has a market value of $8.7 billion.
Last month, Ancora nominated nine director candidates to the 12 US boards. Activists also hope that the company will stop the lawsuit that calls on the federal court of appeals to overturn Biden’s decision to abandon the $14.9 billion deal.
By pursuing the lawsuit, Ancola argued in a letter that US steel is hurting shareholders, pointing out that management and boards should focus on revising their business.
“In continuing to litigate petitions for review, the Board will waste money and resources on its desperate hope that the merger will bring great personal benefits to them,” the letter said.
Ancora is offering the company until February 24th to provide its usual confidential documents related to Nippon and Burritt’s trading plans and proposed mergers.