Sun Capital claims election victory; Furniture Brands expects to announce final results May 20

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., May 1 - SCSF Equities, LLC - known as Sun Capital - said that its nominees have been elected to the Furniture Brands International, Inc. board of directors, based on an estimate by its proxy solicitor D.F. King at the close of the polls.

Furniture Brands, which adjourned the company's 2008 annual meeting, said final election results will require authentication by an independent inspector of elections.

The annual meeting will reconvene on May 20 at which time Furniture Brands expects to announce the final voting results, according to a Furniture Brands news release.

Sun Capital said certification of the final results by the independent inspector, IVS Associates, is expected to be completed this month.

Sun Capital'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.

"The election of Sun Capital's nominees is a victory for all Furniture Brands shareholders," Sun Capital vice president Jason Bernzweig stated in a company news release.

"Today's results demonstrate shareholders' desire for constructive change at Furniture Brands, and we are gratified by their support for our nominees."

Furniture Brands and Sun Capital, the company's second-largest shareholder, took turns publicly asking shareholders for their support over the past month.

It was previously reported that Sun Capital said Furniture Brands' board succession plan is simply "an attempt to avoid a shareholder referendum on the board's performance" as well as an "apparent disregard for shareholders' rights."

On April 24, Furniture Brands said it plans to name replacements for board members Richard B. Loynd and Albert E. Suter during the second or third quarter of 2008 after which the two will retire.

Loynd and Suter were to stand for re-election at the May 1 meeting, a prior news release stated.

Furniture Brands told its shareholders in an April 25 letter that its succession process will "provide directors who are carefully screened to bring the most appropriate talents and experience to enhance Furniture Brands' board, who are truly independent, and who represent the interests of all stockholders rather than the agenda of one."

The company asked shareholders to support its slate of nominees for election to the board, citing Furniture Brands' profitability, cash, low debt and new executive leadership team.

Furniture Brands is a Hickory, N.C., furniture company.

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