Top Shareholder Wants Control of IEC's Board
ORLANDO, FL -- IEC Electronics' largest stockholder is making a play to gain control of the board of the EMS firm.
Vintage Capital Management, owner of more than 7% of the outstanding common stock of the contract assembler, announced today that it filed preliminary proxy materials with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the election of seven directors to IEC’s board.
The group of nominees includes Jeff Schlarbaum, IEC’s former president, as well as veteran EMS executive Keith Butler. Other nominees are Charles Hadeed, former chief executive of Transcat; Lynn Hartrick, a executive and executive advisor; Eric Singer, chairman of Vertex Capital Advisors; and a pair of Vintage partners: Andrew Laurence and Jeremy Nowak.
Vintage has been vocal about its disappointment with IEC management, including what it calls the "misguided" acquisition of Southern California Braiding, management changes, and IEC's refusal to listen to offers to sell. The private equity firm also criticized IEC's "continued entrenchment efforts", including its adoption of a “poison pill” defense plan aimed at warding off hostile buyers.
Of the nominees, Schlarbaum's name is most interesting, having been IEC president from October 2010 to February 2013. Likewise, Butler entered the EMS industry in 1978 when he founded Veritek. He later was executive vice president of OnCore Manufacturing, which acquired Veritek in 2007, until last year.
