Orthofix Shareholders Vote Down Ramius Proposals
BY LAUREN UZDIENSKI, APRIL 2, 2009
Orthofix announced some preliminary results from their Special General Meeting of Shareholders spurred by Ramius LLC's criticism of the company.
Ramius, which owns 5.1% of Orthofix, was seeking to remove four members of the Board of Directors and replace them with their own nominees. The qualifications of several of these nominees were disputed by Orthofix and a number of proxy advisory firms.
Today Orthofix reported that shareholders voted against each proposal, and thus the incumbent Board members will likely keep their seats. A final vote tabulation will be performed by IVS Associates, Inc. and is expected to take about a week.
The meeting did not address Ramius' other chief complaint, which regards Blackstone Medical's performance. Ramius previously urged Orthofix to sell the division, which has posted somewhat disappointing sales since its acquisition and is the subject of an ongoing OIG investigation. Without addressing Blackstone specifically, Orthofix President and CEO Alan Milinazzo said in today's announcement that he would continue to pursue "operational and financial improvements" throughout the company.
