Published: July 30, 2009
Lamassu Holdings LLC Says Ditech Network's Board of Directors Benefits at Shareholders' Expense
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Lamassu Holdings, LLC has sent the following letter to the Board of
Directors of Ditech Networks, Inc.
Dear Board of Directors:
The purpose of this letter is to inform you that while you have
historically operated with impunity in your role as Directors of Ditech
Networks (NASDAQ: DITC), going forward your actions will be regarded
with a much higher degree of scrutiny. The decisions of this board have
shown a pattern of director entrenchment characterized by prioritizing
the interest of its members in the face of poor results at the expense
of the shareholders. In light of this trend, it is time that the
shareholders receive ample representation on the board.
We have taken the time to go through the company's filing and pull out
some of the decisions that were clearly made to benefit the board while
adding no value to shareholders. It is worth noting that these decisions
were, for the most part, made by the same people who currently serve. We
believe these decisions illustrate that, with the exception of Mr.
Simpons and Mr. Dramis, all of the currently serving members, including
Mr. Harper, Mr. Manoliu, Mr. Sugishita, Mr. Hasler and Mr. Avis, have
established a clear pattern of rewarding themselves while shareholders
suffer.
In 2003 (see Figure 1), Ditech Networks moved from a policy in which
board members were paid in options to one in which they were paid with
both cash and options. It is worth noting that during the three years
prior to this change, there was a dramatic drop in the equity value of
the company. In short, since the options you awarded yourselves were no
longer worth anything, you chose to guarantee your compensation
regardless of performance.
In 2005, after another very difficult period for shareholders, shown in
Figure 2, the Board again rewarded itself with pay raises. Beginning on
July 15, 2005, non-employee directors began receiving an annual retainer
of $16,000; the chairman of the Audit Committee received an additional
annual retainer of $5,000; and the chairmen of the Compensation
Committee, the Corporate Governance Committee and the Nominating
Committee received additional annual retainers of $2,500.
The final insult is the most recent decision made little more than a
year ago. As the table below shows, effective May 1, 2008, the Board
raised its salaries and several other fees. Ironically, you even
actually raised the amount you get paid for "phoning it in" ["Special
(telephonic)" line items below]. To put these pay increases in their
full context, at the time you granted these raises for yourselves the
stock was hitting all time lows on a daily basis and wouldn't ultimately
level off until it reached well below a dollar. In addition, the
fundamentals of the company were never as bad as they had been. As a
result of poor decisions and failed strategic maneuvers by the Board of
Directors, the company had lost millions and millions of dollars.
Despite this backdrop, you rewarded yourselves with additional cash at a
time when the company apparently didn't have enough money to buy back
its own stock, despite the record low levels.
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During
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Effective
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Fiscal 2007
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May 1, 2008
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Annual Retainer:
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Board Members
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$
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16,000
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$
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25,000
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Lead Independent Director (additional)
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--
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$
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15,000
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Audit Committee Chairperson
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$
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5,000
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$
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7,500
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Compensation Committee Chairperson
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$
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2,500
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$
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5,000
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Corporate Governance and Nominating
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Committee Chairperson
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$
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2,500
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$
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5,000
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Meeting Fees:
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Board of Directors
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Annual offsite regular meeting
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$
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2,500
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$
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2,500
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Regular meeting
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$
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1,000
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$
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1,000
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Special (telephonic)
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$
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250
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$
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500
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Audit Committee
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Regular meeting
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$
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2,500
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$
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2,500
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Special (in person)
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$
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1,000
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$
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1,000
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Special (telephonic)
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$
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500
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$
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750
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Compensation Committee
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Regular meeting
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$
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2,000
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$
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2,000
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Special
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$
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500
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$
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750
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Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee
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Regular meeting
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$
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2,000
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$
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2,000
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Special
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$
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500
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$
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750
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Had compensation increases been used to attract new talent to the Board
of Directors and resulted in new directors that brought with them a
history of sound business decisions and responsible business practices,
then the pay raises could be justified. However, the pay raises were not
used for this purpose. Instead, in the face of massive shareholder
equity losses and a long list of bad investments, the Board increased
its pay with no regard for the massive losses the shareholders were
experiencing-losses that were painless for the members of the Board due
to their low levels of stock ownership. It is clear that under the
current leadership, it has been more financially rewarding to be on the
Board than to be a shareholder. For this reason and many others Lamassu
has moved to replace two of the current board members with its own
nominees. It is our hope that this will both give shareholders a direct
voice on the Board, as well as bring about a level of fiduciary
responsibility that we believe is currently lacking.
Sincerely,
Lamassu Holdings, LLC
CERTAIN INFORMATION CONCERNING PARTICIPANTS
Lamassu Holdings L.L.C. ("Lamassu" ), together with the other
participants named below, intends to make a preliminary filing with the
Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC" ) of a proxy statement and an
accompanying proxy card to be used to solicit votes for the election of
its slate of nominees at the 2009 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of
Ditech Networks, Inc., a Delaware Corporation (the "Company" ).
LAMASSU STRONGLY ADVISES ALL STOCKHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY TO READ THE
PRELIMINARY PROXY STATEMENT AND OTHER PROXY MATERIALS AS THEY BECOME
AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. SUCH PROXY
MATERIALS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT NO CHARGE ON THE SEC'S WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.SEC.GOV.
IN ADDITION, THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE PROXY SOLICITATION WILL PROVIDE
COPIES OF THE PRELIMINARY PROXY STATEMENT WITHOUT CHARGE UPON REQUEST.
The participants in the proxy solicitation are Lamassu Holdings L.L.C.
("Lamassu" ), Tim Leehealey, Sam Healey and Frank J. Sansone. As of the
date of this filing, Lamassu beneficially owns 2,399,845 shares of
common stock of the Company (the "Shares" ), constituting approximately
9.1% of the Shares outstanding.
Tim Leehealey and Sam Healey act as the managing members of Lamassu and,
as a result, Tim Leehealey and Sam Healey may be deemed to control such
entity. Accordingly, Tim Leehealey and Sam Healey may be deemed to have
a beneficial interest in the Shares beneficially owned Lamassu.
As of the date of this filing, Mr. Sansone does not beneficially own any
Shares.
As members of a "group" for the purposes of Rule 13d-5(b)(1) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, each of the participants in
this proxy solicitation is deemed to beneficially own the Shares
beneficially owned in the aggregate by the other participants. Each of
the participants in this proxy solicitation disclaims beneficial
ownership of such Shares except to the extent of his or its pecuniary
interest therein.
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B. Riley & Co., LLC
Wes Cummins, 310-966-1444
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