MOUNTAIN LAKES, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
On March 6, 2017, Wintergreen Advisers, LLC (“Wintergreen”) and Consolidated-Tomoka Land Co. (“CTO”, NYSE:CTO) and its directors (collectively, the “Defendants”) entered into a settlement agreement whereby CTO shareholders will be permitted to vote on Wintergreen’s nominees to CTO’s Board of Directors at CTO’s 2017 Annual Meeting. This is exactly the relief Wintergreen requested in its complaint against the Defendants and Wintergreen views the settlement as a complete victory, both for itself and for all CTO shareholders.
Wintergreen serves as investment adviser to clients who have collectively owned more than 10% of CTO’s shares since 2006 and who currently own more than 27.1% of CTO’s shares. In November of 2016, Wintergreen notified CTO of its nomination of four individuals to serve on CTO’s Board and to be voted on by shareholders. Rather than engage Wintergreen on the merits, CTO sought to reject Wintergreen’s right to nominate directors, effectively taking away the ability of CTO shareholders to choose their own directors. Although Wintergreen attempted in good faith to negotiate with CTO, ultimately Wintergreen was forced to defend its shareholder rights in court.
Wintergreen’s Chief Operating Officer Liz Cohernour issued the following statement on behalf of Wintergreen:
“We are extremely pleased to have vindicated our rights as shareholders of CTO and are looking forward to presenting our vision for the future of CTO directly to shareholders and providing them with a real choice at the 2017 Annual Meeting. We believe that our nominees have the expertise and experience to unlock significant unrealized shareholder value in the Company while also implementing sound corporate governance and compensation policies that will benefit shareholders, not senior management. It is a shame the current board has sought to limit the right of CTO’s shareholders to choose their board representatives, arguably a shareholder’s most important right, in order to stay in power. This is not an isolated incident and represents yet another example of existing management putting their own interests before those of shareholders. In addition to making our case forcefully to fellow CTO shareholders, we look forward to holding CTO and its directors accountable.”
About Wintergreen Advisers
Established in 2005 by Liz Cohernour and David J. Winters, Wintergreen is an independent global money manager that employs a research-driven value style in managing global securities. As of December 31, 2016, Wintergreen Advisers had approximately $540 million under management on behalf of individuals and institutions through its mutual fund and other clients, and is based in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey.
For further information on Wintergreen Advisers, please call 973-263-4500 or visit www.wintergreenadvisers.com. For information, forms and documents regarding our U.S. mutual fund, please visit www.wintergreenfund.com.
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