Openwave, Harbinger fail to reach agreement on board seats, stockholder confidence

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., Jan. 22 - Openwave Systems Inc.'s board of directors said it was unable to reach a "mutually acceptable settlement agreement" with Harbinger Capital Partners in an ongoing proxy battle, according to a company news release.

Harbinger rejected Openwave's proposal to retain both of its board nominees and add one seat for Harbinger's successful nominee, saying it had "clearly won one board seat by a safe margin."

Openwave said a preliminary report shows David C. Peterschmidt, Openwave's president and chief executive officer, and Harbinger's nominee, James L. Zucco, received the most votes cast at the annual meeting.

Harbinger, with a 10% stake in Openwave, believes the company ignored its stockholders' vote of no confidence for the board as well as for Peterschmidt.

In a letter to Openwave's board, Harbinger said the board is "out of touch with the Openwave stockholders who own the company, and to whom they have a fiduciary responsibility," according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Harbinger also said Openwave was misleading when it failed to note that two of three proxy advisory firms had recommended against voting for Peterschmidt and the other incumbent director in its Form 8-K filing.

Based in Redwood City, Calif., Openwave provides software products and services to the communications and media industries,

Harbinger is a Birmingham, Ala.-based Investment group.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.