Tecumseh CEO asks shareholders to reject Herrick nominees on Aug. 14

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., Aug. 7 - Tecumseh Products Co. chairman, president and chief executive officer Edwin Buker asked shareholders to support the company's slate of director nominees and reject the Herrick Foundation's nominees at the annual meeting on Aug. 14.

Shareholders were also asked to vote in favor of a recapitalization to consolidate Tecumseh's two share classes into a single class of common shares.

In a lengthy letter to Tecumseh shareholders on Friday, Buker said that Todd Herrick and Kent Herrick "led the company to the brink of bankruptcy in early 2007."

"The Herricks have refused to share any detailed information about their proposed plan for the future of Tecumseh and have proposed initiatives that, we believe, will deplete the company of all its cash in 18 months," Buker said.

Buker sought shareholder support in a similar letter in July.

Tecumseh nominated for election to the board of directors, in addition to Buker:

• Leonard Anthony, former president and CEO of WCI Steel;

• William Barker, former senior executive at Rexam plc;

• David Bloss Sr., former chairman and CEO of Circor International and a director of Magnetek Inc.;

• Greg Smith, former chairman and CEO of Ford Motor Credit Co.;

• William Aziz, incumbent Tecumseh director and president of BlueTree Advisors Inc.; and

• Jeffry Quinn, incumbent Tecumseh director and chairman, president, and CEO of Solutia Inc.

The Herrick nominees include current Tecumseh directors Kent Herrick and Steve Lebowski as well as Zachary Savas.

As previously reported, RiskMetrics Group/ISS and Proxy Governance, Inc. recommended that Tecumseh shareholders vote to elect all seven of the company's director nominees. A third proxy advisory firm, Glass, Lewis & Co., recommended in favor of six of the seven Tecumseh nominees.

All three proxy advisory firms recommended that shareholders vote in favor of the proposed recapitalization.

Tecumseh manufactures compressors and other products. The company is located in Tecumseh, Mich.

© 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.