Details Prolonged Period of Shareholder Value
Destruction Caused by Poor Performance, Poor Operating Execution
and Poor Capital Allocation
Believes CEO and Incumbent Board Are
Ineffective, Over Tenured and Entrenched and Cannot be Trusted to
Oversee Much-Needed Change Following Years of Empty
Promises
Barington's Nominees Bring the Leadership
Experience and Sector Expertise the Board Urgently Needs to Unlock
Matthews' Embedded Value
Urges Shareholders to Vote the
GOLD Proxy Card "FOR"
the Election of ALL of Barington
Capital's Nominees
NEW
YORK, Jan. 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Barington
Capital Group, L.P. ("Barington Capital"), a fundamental,
value-oriented activist investor that, together with the other
participants in its solicitation (collectively "Barington" or
"we"), beneficially owns approximately 1.9% of the outstanding
shares of Matthews International Corporation (NASDAQ: MATW)
("Matthews" or the "Company"), today announced that it has released
a comprehensive presentation outlining the path to maximizing value
at Matthews following a prolonged period of shareholder value
destruction overseen by the Company's long-tenured Board of
Directors (the "Board") and Chief Executive Officer. The
presentation also highlights why Barington's director nominees are
the change agents urgently needed on the Board to ensure the Board
is acting in the best interest of shareholders.
Barington encourages Matthews' shareholders to review the
presentation so they can make an informed decision at the Company's
2025 Annual Meeting of Shareholders regarding the future of their
investment.
Barington's presentation can be found at
https://barington.com/matthews.
Key highlights of the presentation include:
- Barington's Extended Engagement with Matthews: Since
entering into an agreement in December
2022 pursuant to which Barington served as consultant to the
Company, the Matthews team has kept Barington at arms-length,
limiting interactions to mostly quarterly phone calls, and, in our
view, demonstrating little intent to meaningfully engage. As a
result, we witnessed little evidence of progress on any of our
recommendations until we called for the Company to replace its CEO
and indicated our intent to nominate directors.
- Many Years of Underperformance, Poor Capital Allocation,
Poor Operating Execution and Excessive Spending at Matthews: We
believe poor capital allocation and deteriorating operating results
– caused in large part by failed acquisitions and ineffective
capital expenditures – have caused Matthews' shares to trade at
declining multiples since Joseph
Bartolacci started his role as CEO in 2006.
- Matthews Has Significant Value Potential: As set forth
in more detail in the presentation, our analysis suggests that
the Company's businesses could have a combined value of
$44-57 per share, not including any
additional value from its Energy Storage business.
- Matthews' CEO and Board are Ineffective, Over Tenured and
Entrenched: We believe Mr. Bartolacci has a long history of
using promises of future value creation from the Company's
investments to divert attention from its deteriorating performance.
Worse, we believe the incumbent Board has failed to hold Mr.
Bartolacci accountable for making empty promises that have resulted
in shareholder value destruction.
- Change Must Begin at the Top: Despite Matthews' claims,
we do not believe that the Company is implementing most of
Barington's recommendations. We strongly believe that a vote for
Matthews' director nominees will embolden the Company to maintain
its untenable status quo, resulting in continued value destruction
for shareholders.
- The Strength of Barington's Nominees: Barington has
nominated Ana Amicarella,
Chan Galbato and James Mitarotonda – three highly accomplished
executives with much-needed expertise in key sectors crucial to
Matthews' success, considerable experience leading value-creating
businesses as CEO, fresh perspectives and an unwavering commitment
to putting shareholders' interests first.
- The Path to Driving Long-Term Value Creation at
Matthews: Barington recommends that Matthews immediately: 1)
refresh the Board and improve corporate governance; 2) promptly
commence a search for a new CEO; 3) focus on businesses where
Matthews can create long-term shareholder value; and 4) increase
the amount of Matthews' planned SG&A expense reduction and
allocate cash to reduce indebtedness.
SHOW THE BOARD THAT YOU WILL NO LONGER
TOLERATE THE STATUS QUO AND VOTE THE GOLD PROXY CARD TODAY TO HELP
MAXIMIZE VALUE AT MATTHEWS
ABOUT BARINGTON CAPITAL GROUP, L.P.
Barington Capital Group, L.P. is a fundamental, value-oriented
activist investment firm established by James Mitarotonda in January 2000. Barington invests in undervalued
publicly traded companies that Barington believes can appreciate
significantly in value when substantive improvements are made to
their operations, corporate strategy, capital allocation and
corporate governance. Barington's investment team, advisors and
network of industry experts draw upon their extensive strategic,
operating and boardroom experience to assist companies in designing
and implementing initiatives to improve long-term shareholder
value.
Media Contact:
Jonathan Gasthalter/Amanda Shpiner
Gasthalter & Co.
212-257-4170
Important Information and Participants in the
Solicitation
Barington has filed a definitive proxy statement and associated
GOLD proxy card with the Securities and Exchange Commission
("SEC") to be used to solicit votes for the election of its slate
of highly-qualified director nominees at the upcoming annual
meeting of stockholders of the Company. Details regarding the
Barington nominees and the participants in its solicitation are
included in its proxy statement and Barington strongly advises all
shareholders of the company to read the proxy statement and other
proxy materials as they contain important information.
The participants in Barington's proxy solicitation are
Barington, Barington Companies Investors, LLC, Barington Capital
Group, L.P., LNA Capital Corp., James
Mitarotonda, 1 NBL EH, LLC, Joseph
Gromek, Ana B. Amicarella and
Chan W. Galbato.
If you have any questions, require assistance in
voting your GOLD universal proxy card,
or need additional copies of Barington's proxy materials,
please contact:
Okapi Partners
1212 Avenue of the Americas, 17th Floor
New York, NY 10036
Banks and Brokerage Firms, Please Call: (212)
297-0720
Shareholders and All Others Call Toll-Free: (877) 285-5990
E-mail: info@okapipartners.com
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SOURCE Barington Capital Group, L.P.