Bassett Furniture, Costa Brava reach settlement

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., April 10 - Bassett Furniture Industries, Inc. entered into an agreement with Costa Brava Partnership III LP, Seth W. Hamot and Roark, Rearden & Hamot, LLC to settle all claims related to the nomination of directors at the company's upcoming annual meeting of shareholders.

The agreement includes customary standstill and expenses reimbursement provisions.

Costa Brava, with a 5.13% stake in Bassett, will support the company's nominees for election and will withdraw its proposed nominees for election to the Bassett board of directors, a company news release stated.

Bassett and Costa Brava agreed that a shareholder representative may attend the board meetings as an observer. In addition, Bassett will withdraw the pending litigation in the Circuit Court of the County of Henry, Va.

"We are pleased to have reached this settlement with Costa Brava, which we believe is in the best interests of all Bassett shareholders, customers and employees," Bassett chief executive officer Robert Spilman Jr. said in the release.

"It is time to redirect all of the company's efforts to the business," Spilman added.

"We support the board's recent announcements regarding its plan to unlock shareholder value and look forward to its implementation," Hamot, president of Roark, Rearden & Hamot, said in the release.

On Jan. 28, Costa Brava and its affiliates put forth a slate of nominees for election to the Bassett, Va., home furnishings company's board of directors that included Hamot and:

• David S. Brody, founder and principal of Actionvest Cos.;

• Neil Chelo, director of research at Benchmark Plus Management, LLC;

• Eugene I. Davis, chairman and CEO of Pirinate Consulting Group, LLC;

• Peter Hirsch, CEO and chief information officer of Hirsch Partners asset management company;

• Kent F. Heyman, chairman of the board and CEO of Migo Software, Inc.; and

• Andrew R. Siegel, senior vice president of Roark, Rearden & Hamot Capital Management.

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