Thanks, Joseph, you just made my day a bit brighter. I still think it's wise for everyone to consider your "when/if" disclaimer, however.
I've gone through last year's proxy statement (3/28/97, thanks David). I really like it. Board members have been awarded options that vest at $4 7/8 to $5. Executives of the company held almost no "in-the-money" options as of 12/31/96, the total value being about $12K (about as close to zero as you can get, 12/31 close was $4 1/4). The total of excercisable, out-of-the-money options was about 630K shares, which means that there is incentive to make the stock perform near-term. Furthermore, the unexercisable, out-of-the-money options totaled about 320K, or which 112K are held by Blitzer. New options were issued in '96 at exercise prices of $4 3/8 to $6 3/8. Blitzer's options vest at 25%/year, starting with the first 25% on 4/29/96.
An investor can't make decisions based on options, obviously. However, it is nice to find a situation where options vest at approximately the current share price. It means that, without share appreciation, management makes little or nothing in addition to salary and bonus. However, at $15/share, management would hold options with a value of approximately $10 million.
Salaries appear, to me, to be modest, and the Board is, IMO, great. Some companies that have been around the block still have a rag tag collection of VCs and other "yes men" on the Board. MOGN's Board is comprised of Blitzer, the President of Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, and five consultants that have retired from pharma. The retired guys were senior executives at companies like Schering Plough, ICI Americas, Sandoz, and American Cyanamid. To me, this Board fits well with the "niche" approach at MOGN.
The dreaded Kopp Investment Advisors held 926K shares as of 2/28/97. Could someone again summarize what is believed to have happened to this holding since? Thanks.
Every investor has his own style. I've been around biotech since its inception, and I've learned that you can usually tell the BS companies from the proxy statement. First blush, MOGN's latest looks OK to me. If this company has been investor-unfriendly in the past, it must have been some time ago.
Rick |
