Sun Capital nominates three to Furniture Brands' board of directors

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., April 3 - Sun Capital Securities Group, LLC, in a letter to Furniture Brands International, Inc., said its affiliate SCSF Equities, LLC is nominating three candidates for election to the company's eight-member board of directors at the 2008 annual meeting on May 1.

The investor, with a 9.45% ownership interest in the Hickory, N.C., furniture company, also filed a preliminary proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

According to a Sun Capital news release, SCSF's nominees are:

• Alan Schwartz, Sterling Professor of Law at Yale Law School;

• Ira Kaplan, chief financial officer of Claire's Stores Inc.; and

• T. Scott King, managing director of Sun Capital Partners, Inc.

"We firmly believe that, if elected to the Furniture Brands' board, our nominees will enable the board to better oversee management performance and properly evaluate the company's strategic alternatives," Sun Capital's letter said. The letter was included in a news release.

Sun Capital does not believe that the current board is acting in the best interests of shareholders. Specifically, Sun Capital said Furniture Brands' board appears to have given little consideration to at least two "serious and credible proposals to acquire the company at prices well above the existing stock price."

Sun Capital acknowledged that it had made one of the two proposals but said it is open to alternatives that would deliver better value to its fellow shareholders. The alternatives could include a sale of the company in whole or in part, as well as a more dynamic turnaround strategy.

The investors previously asked Furniture Brands for a copy of its stockholder list and security position listings in order to disseminate solicitation materials to the company's stockholders.

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