Fisher Communications management won’t have to deal with hedge fund manager David Lorber any longer. He’s resigned from the Fisher Board of Directors.
However, FrontFour Capital Group remains a Fisher investor. There won’t be a battle for board seats this year because Fisher has struck a deal with FrontFour under which two people acceptable to the hedge fund will be nominated as part of the management-endorsed slate for the . They are Matthew Goldfarb, one of two directors elected last year from the FrontFour dissident slate, and Frank P. Willey, Vice Chairman of Fidelity National Financial, Inc. and a partner in the law firm of Hennelly & Grossfeld LLP.
The two FrontFour-approved candidates are nominated for three-year terms on the board of directors, through the 2015 annual shareholders meeting. Joseph Troy, who was also elected from the FrontFour slate last year, remains on the board through the 2014 meeting.
Also up for re-election to a three-year term is Paul Bible, who was elected non-executive Chairman of the Board after last year’s election.
The election ballot will also ask shareholders to approve Peter Murphy, who was appointed to the board in January to fill the seat vacated by Roger Ogden. That seat runs through the 2014 meeting.
Lorber had been a Fisher director since 2009 and had pressed for asset sales to unlock value for shareholders. “During my term, Fisher’s Board has taken decisive actions to improve the Company’s balance sheet and position the Company for ongoing success and shareholder value creation. As I leave the Board to focus on other companies within the FrontFour portfolio, I have confidence in the current composition of Fisher’s Board and believe that Frank Willey would be a strong contributor to the Company’s continued success,” he said in a statement released by the company.
“During David’s tenure on the Board, Fisher’s management and Board strengthened the Company by repaying its $150 million of outstanding long-term debt and selling its non-core asset, Fisher Plaza, for $160 million,” said Bible. “We share David’s commitment to create lasting value for our shareholders and appreciate FrontFour’s recommendation of Frank Willey to serve on our Board. We remain focused on executing our strategic plan for the benefit of all of our stakeholders.”
