TheCorporateCouncil.net posted a transcript of a recent Webcast on the SEC’s new Proxy Disclosure requirement. Like always, they do an excellent job of sorting out issues for those getting into the weeds.
RMG reports “The wave of new federal securities lawsuits related to the global credit crisis has finally subsided, down 7-24% depending on whose data you use. The largest category of 2009 cases were those that arose from the credit crisis. (Investors File Fewer Lawsuits in 2009, 1/6/10)
theRacetotheBottom.org has covered a raft of issues lately that are worth a read. These include: Executive Compensation at Goldman Sachs, Executive Compensation, Delaware’s Top Five Worst Shareholder Decisions of 2009 and the need for reinstating Glass-Steagall.
Bowing to pressure from shareholders of On2 Technologies, 11.5% of whom voted they share through MoxyVote.com, Google raised its offer to $132 million, up from $106.5 million. (Shazam! Google raises its offer price for On2, 2/7/10)
Study finds Private Investments in Public Equity (PIPEs) announcement returns decrease almost linearly across the first six PIPE transactions, going from positive to negative. Firms that issue multiple PIPEs have high cash levels, and a majority make acquisitions. Successive PIPE transactions delay accessing of public markets while keeping institutional ownership low. Hence, they are greeted skeptically by the market as maintaining managerial entrenchment. (Are Private Placement Announcement Returns Really Positive? On the Information Content of Repeated PIPE Offerings, Ioannis V. Floros and Travis Sapp, SSRN, 1/7/2010)
Small ESOPs, those controlling less than 5% of outstanding shares, benefit both workers and shareholders, implying positive productivity gains. However, the effects of large ESOPs on worker compensation and shareholder value are more or less neutral, suggesting little productivity gains. These differential effects appear to be due to two non-value-creating motives specific to large ESOPS: (1) Management-worker alliances to thwart hostile takeover threats and (2) To substitute wages with ESOP shares by cash constrained firms. Worker compensation increases when firms under takeover threats adopt large ESOPs, but only if the firm operates in a non-competitive industry. (“Employee Capitalism or Corporate Socialism? Broad-Based Employee Stock Ownership”, Kim and Ouimet, SSRN, 12/1/09)
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