Annual Meeting Notes/Opinions
I have been a shareholder since December, 1996 and have attended the last three annual meetings. There is no substitute for attending the annual meeting. This latest meeting was EXTREMELY positive in my view. The company is very focused and continues to make tremendous progress with their business plan. Attendees were civil and engaged with absolutely no evidence of hostility toward management. The reports from Bloomberg concerning the meeting, in my opinion, were extremely slanted. My cousin, who is a broker, attended the meeting and was very favorably surprised by ABTX and couldn't believe this was the same company that Bloomberg continually tried to downplay. Had a long talk with Barry Summermour from Stephens who was also favorably impressed. Had a breakfast meeting with JT and continue to be amazed by the vision, focus, work ethic, honesty, and CREDIBILITY that this man demonstrates. This is the third time I have had a chance to talk with him at length and each time I understand exactly why I have invested so heavily in ABTX. I am now more convinced than ever that the value he helped to create will be appreciated greatly by shareholders in the months/years to come. He was SCREWED for expressing his true opinions about the value of ABTX and for not suffering fools well. I know very little compared to JT about ABTX, but even I am continually amazed by the moronic questions/accusations he has to endure. There is no question, in my mind, that several bids ($19 to $31) were going to be evaluated by ABTX at a formal meeting but were suspended when the lawsuit hit. Bloomberg tries to suggest that there was no interest in ABTX by the MACC's. That is CLEARLY WRONG! It was apparently very difficult to value ABTX in the defined four-month time period because of the multiple accounting systems of the acquired companies and therefore the MACC's bid on the low end of the range because of the uncertainty of the valuation. I am now convinced that the deal suspension was in our best interest since the valuations will be significantly higher once the integration is complete and positive earnings are reported. Finally, Tom Rice stated that there is no inherent reason why forage/turf biotech innovations would take longer than other crops. PERIOD. In addition, JT stated that any redundant seed facilities that are sold will have restrictions placed so no potential competitors can use them. GREAT MEETING. GREAT COMPANY.
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