Shamrock seeks support for election of its director nominees at Coinstar annual meeting on June 3

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., May 13 - Coinstar, Inc. investor Shamrock Activist Value Fund, LP said it is time for a change at the company and urged fellow shareholders to vote for its nominees at Coinstar's annual meeting.

Shamrock has nominated:

• Eugene I. Krieger, vice chairman and chief operating officer of Shamrock Holdings, Inc. and a vice president of Shamrock Partners Activist Value Fund, LLC;

• John M. Panettiere, founder and CEO of John M. Panettiere Business Consulting and a member of the Shamrock Activist Value Fund advisory panel; and

• Arik Ahitov, vice president of Shamrock Capital Advisors, Inc. and a senior portfolio manager for the Shamrock Activist Value Fund.

It was previously reported that Coinstar unanimously recommended its stockholders vote for the company's director nominees - Deborah Bevier, David Eskenazy and Robert Sznewajs - at the annual meeting on June 3.

According to Shamrock, with the exception of one member, the composition of Coinstar's board has remained unchanged for over five years.

In addition, Shamrock noted that the incumbent non-management board members collectively own only 0.12% (1.3% including options) of the Coinstar shares. Shamrock is the company's largest stockholder, owning some 13.3% of the outstanding shares.

"We believe that Coinstar is at a critical inflection point in its business and it is time for direct investor representation in the boardroom," Shamrock said in a schedule 14A filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Shamrock said its nominees, if elected, would focus on:

• Improving operational performance;

• Strengthening Coinstar's corporate governance standards;

• Optimizing Coinstar's compensation plans; and

• Improving transparency and clarity in Coinstar's communications with its stockholders.

Coinstar chief executive officer David W. Cole and chairman Keith D. Grinstein asked shareholders to discard any materials received from Shamrock, a prior news release said.

In an open letter to stockholders, Cole and Grinstein accused the dissident hedge fund of trying to install its hand-picked representatives onto the board.

Cole and Grinstein noted Shamrock's actions at iPass, Inc., where Shamrock was permitted to designate two members to iPass' board and then pushed for a sale of the company.

Bellevue, Wash.-based Coinstar owns and operates self-service coin-counting machines.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.