Dalsa Corp.’s board of directors has appointed Eric Rosenfeld, managing partner of New York hedge fund Crescendo Partners, to its board effective immediately, the Waterloo, Canada company said yesterday.
It also agreed to replace three of the eight existing board members on the ballot for the company’s March 27 annual meeting. Rosenfeld; former Vector Aerospace Corp. CEO Colin Watson and Mark Burton, CEO of Toronto software company Longview Solutions before its sale in November will take their place.
Dalsa’s two longest-serving outside board members, Graham Jullien and John Simons, as well as the only woman on the board, Carol Perry, have agreed to step aside, said Dalsa CEO Brian Doody.
Crescendo announced on Jan. 31 that it had bought 506,000 Dalsa shares, increasing its stake in the maker of imaging equipment to 10.8 per cent. Shortly thereafter, Dalsa officials called Crescendo to talk about the company’s financial performance and prospects, as they do with all major shareholders, Doody said.
Crescendo requested representation on the board of directors, he said. Rosenfeld’s firm also had other issues it negotiated with Dalsa’s management, but neither Doody nor Rosenfeld would discuss them.
“Any details are of a confidential nature, and we have come to an agreement with them,” Doody said. “The main topic of that agreement was agreeing on the slate of directors that would be proposed.”
When Crescendo attains representation on a company’s board, whether through negotiation or through a hostile takeover, it often acts quickly to realize value for shareholders.
In several instances, companies have been acquired or sold off major parts of their business shortly after Rosenfeld or one of his partners became involved.
But Doody said that is not likely to happen at Dalsa.”There’s no indication that’s any part of the road map going forward. Our goal with Crescendo and with Eric Rosenfeld is to give all of them a good return on their investment.”