FROM YAHOO:
<<<Please read this Noam & Schlomo
by: a_high_plains_drifter 8/1/00 6:46 pm
Msg: 39561 of 39597
I am a longstanding shareholder in MRVC. In total, I own over 25,000 shares, and I have calls on another 25,000 shares. I have been following the company for over 3 years, and I bought the bulk of my stock position in the single-digits. I have made alot of money to date in MRVC, but I truly believe this is just the tip of the iceberg. I think that we could see a ten-bagger in MRVC over the next 2-3 years from current prices.
What I want to say is this -- I think the MRVC is so damn volatile because you two simply refuse to play the Wall Street game. Here's what I mean:
1. You have no real investor relation capability (I'm sorry, but Diana doesn't cut it, and I know you're smart enough to realize it). I think you have her doing IR because you don't want a more high-powered person who would steal your thunder. Why not hire a real IR firm or recruit someone good from another networking company (i.e., from Cabletron, 3Com, etc...)?
2. You have never held an analyst day in Chatsworth so that potential investors could see firsthand what goes on at MRV. Your "secretive" approach to Wall Street only breeds distrust and gives the naysayers more fuel. I know your response -- that you don't want to le your competitors know what you're up to. Well, I've got news for you -- they already know. Do you really believe your engineers don't talk to their counterparts at other companies? Are you realy that naive?
3. You don't attend investor conferences and you let bucket-shop firms like Van Kaspar make roadshow and one-on-one meetings for you. Don't you see the importance of credibility and real Wall Street sponsorship? Given the investment banking fees you have paid over the years, why is Chet White still the only analyst who covers the stock? Could it be because Edmund can't communicate effectively with the sellside community? And I hope that you are smart enough to buy research coverage from CS First Boston, Oppenheimer and Robertson Stephens -- not just for Luminent, but for MRVC as well.
As engineers, I'm sure that you view Wall Street as a necessary evil -- you have to put up appearances because every now and then you need to raise cash and/or sell stock personally. But if it were up to you, you would prefer to have MRV be a private company that answered to no one. Well I've got news for you -- MRV is NOT private, it is a public company that owes a fiduciary duty to its shareholders.
Now I KNOW about the expressions of interest you have received recently from buyers for parts of MRV (i.e., Luminent) as well as for the whole company. Here's the bottom line -- either you two start playing the Wall Street game, and do what you must to get the stock up, or someone will make a bid for OUR company and TAKE YOU OUT. There is too much capital in the buyers' hands (both cash & high-currency stock), and there is too much value to be created by buying MRVC for these potential buyers to wait.
And please do us all a big favor -- whatever else you do, DON'T HIDE BEHIND THE "QUIET PERIOD" EXCUSE AS A REASON NOT TO COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR SHAREHOLDERS. We all know the the "quiet period" is a bunch of baloney invented by lawyers as a convenient excuse for managements who don't want to be held accountable to the shareholders. Instead, take a page out of Cisco's playbook -- be PROACTIVE with the Street and get out and tell your story. Spell it out for the dummies (I mean, mutual fund managers) who don't bother to do their own homework anymore. Enough is enough. Get these IPOs done quickly and get the stock up, because you only get so many chances on Wall Street. Once you burn enough people, they'll never come back to support you. >>>> |
