Highlights
- Largest and most publicized proxy contest in history
- Over 2.7 million retail shareholders involved
- Tight victory in a hotly contested outcome
Challenge
D.F. King, an EQ company, was tasked with supporting an American multinational consumer goods corporation as the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar investment management firm sought a seat on the board – in one of the largest, most contentious and most highly publicized proxy contests of all time.
Solution
D.F. King provided consulting services on all aspects of the proxy fight, including the institutional solicitation, the high-volume retail solicitation to over 2.7 million shareholders, vote projection modeling, mailing strategies to various share bands in this mega-cap corporation as well as a robust and creative social media strategy. To achieve the best outcome, the solicitation included daily interaction on solicitation strategy with a top law firm, several top investment banks and a leading public relations firm.
Results
The results were tight on the stockholder meeting date, when the multinational consumer goods company announced a predicted close victory in the director election. However, the preliminary voting results were announced a few weeks later and it swung to a razor thin margin of victory for the investment management firm. D.F. King participated and provided significant analytics into the ensuing review and challenge period for the contest, which ultimately led to an unprecedentedly close win for the consumer goods corporation in the final voting results.
About EQ
EQ are specialists in helping you better understand and manage the ownership of your company through critical events across the corporate lifecycle. As trusted advisors, we provide strategic insight and operations expertise through our core business units in Private Company Services, Transfer Agent Services, Employee Plan Solutions, Proxy Services, and Bankruptcy. Globally we serve 6,700 clients (49% of the FTSE 100 UK and 35% of the S&P 500), with over 30 million shareholders, through 6,500 employees in 5 markets around the world.
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