health tech companies Masimofacing the imminent threat of litigation and a second proxy fight; offered a settlement On Thursday, he submitted a proposal to Politan Capital’s Quentin Coffey to fill the vacant board seat with one of the board members proposed by activists.
Craig Reynolds, Masimo’s lead independent director, said he hoped adding Politan candidate William Jellison to the board would help “avoid significant disruption and expense from a proxy contest.” Ta. The company is working with an unspecified joint venture partner to spin off its consumer technology division, CEO Joe Chiani said earlier this year.
Coffey said earlier this week that Masimo was withholding information about the joint venture from the board and was asking the board to sign non-disclosure agreements to learn the names of potential partners. He threatened to sue if the company did not provide that information by Friday.
The settlement would not have been possible without the impending resignation of current director Rolf Classon, whose resignation was attributed to “personal health reasons.”
Coffey successfully won a proxy fight in Masimo last year, winning representation for himself and another candidate for Masimo. 6 person board. The activist alleges that Masimo’s consumer technology acquisitions were made possible by poor governance, a charge supported by major shareholders, a trend that Coffey said has not abated during his tenure on the board. Stated.
Politan launched a second proxy fight to oust Kiani earlier this year. saying “The lack of oversight is harming shareholders.” The activist also pointed out that outside of Chiani, no board member had access to “fundamental facts” about research and development spending or sales and product costs.
Masimo declined to comment. A representative for Politan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.