Shareholder Activist, Lens, Takes AimAt Metromedia International Group
Makes 'Books And Records' Demand
PORTLAND, Maine, Nov. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Lens Investment Management, LLC, the shareholder activist investment specialist, has sent Metromedia International Group, Inc. (Amex: MMG), the global communications conglomerate founded and chaired by John W. Kluge, an October 26 letter making a formal "books and records" demand under Section 220 of the Delaware General Corporation Law ("DGCL"). Section 220 of the DGCL provides shareholders with a statutory right to demand access to corporate books and records. Lens wants to review Metromedia International's books and records to evaluate numerous related party transactions between Metromedia International and John W. Kluge and Stuart Subotnick, Metromedia International's Chief Executive, as well as to determine whether management is operating the company in the best interest of shareholders.
"On September 29, we sent a letter to Stuart Subotnick, Metromedia International's Chief Executive, requesting a meeting. We also reached out to its board of directors. At today's investor meeting, Mr. Subotnick claimed that no shareholder inquiry goes unanswered, but to date, we've had no response. They've left us with no recourse but to follow due process," said Richard A. Bennett, Lens' Chief Activism Officer. "Metromedia International, like all publicly traded companies, has an obligation to its public shareholders to maximize the value in its assets. They've consistently failed to do this. Their lack of willingness to effect change that will benefit their shareholders cannot go unchallenged."
Metromedia International's total shareholder return from September 27, 1995 to September 27, 2000 was minus 80.5%, compared with the total return of the Nasdaq Telecomm Index, which Metromedia International uses as its peer group, of + 242.5%, during the same period. The total return of the S&P 500 for the same five-year period (gross dividends reinvested) was +166.5%.
Metromedia International Group, Inc. is a global communications and media company operating telephony and television businesses in Eastern Europe, the republics of the former Soviet Union and other emerging markets. The company also owns the lawn and garden equipment manufacturer, Snapper, which it has called a "non-core" asset.
Founded in 1991 by Robert A.G. Monks as an investment management firm, Lens (http://www.lens-inc.com) was among the first fund managers to take an active role in corporate governance. Over the past decade, Lens, which no longer operates as an investment manager, but rather as a specialist in investor activism, has succeeded in increasing the value of shareholders' investment in companies like Scott Paper, American Express, Eastman Kodak and Pioneer Group. |
