Milwaukee-based Sensient Technologies Corp. sent a letter to shareholders today asking them to reject a hostile board takeover attempt by Greenwich, Conn-based hedge fund FrontFour Master Fund Ltd.
FrontFour indicated earlier this month that it plans to nominate four people to Sensient’s board of directors at the next annual meeting of shareholders, on April 24.
In the letter, Sensient says the election of any of FrontFour’s nominees would disrupt its strategy and put shareholders’ investments at risk. It asks shareholders to vote for the white proxy card.
Sensient says FrontFour’s nominees “are beholden to the hedge fund, lack relevant industry experience, and have serious issues in their backgrounds that FrontFour has not disclosed.”
“We believe FrontFour’s argument in support of replacing our directors is almost entirely premised upon a selective and misleading presentation of Sensient’s performance,” the letter says. “Furthermore, FrontFour has offered nothing more than what we see as a simplistic and inaccurate critique of our efforts, demonstrating its lack of understanding of our business.”
Since FrontFour’s announcement, the color, flavor and fragrance manufacturer has also created a new independent lead director position, changed its long-term equity incentive compensation plan and announced a restructuring that will eliminate underperforming operations, improve efficiencies and consolidate manufacturing facilities.
