Shareholders of Office Depot Send Board a Message
High Withhold Vote at Recent Annual Meeting
Posted on Thu, May. 08, 2008
By Woodbridge Equity Fund LLLP
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., May 8 --
Woodbridge Equity Fund LLLP
and Levitt Corporation (NYSE: LEV), together "Woodbridge," today responded to
the certified results of the Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) Annual Meeting of
Shareholders held on April 23, 2008 in Boca Raton, Florida.
According to the May 5, 2008 Final Report of the Inspectors of Election,
five Office Depot directors received significant withheld/against votes:
-- Lee A. Ault, III: 80,660,597 withheld/against votes, or 42.73%
-- David W. Bernauer: 68,584,670 withheld/against votes, or 36.33%
-- Abelardo E. Bru: 65,589,021 withheld/against votes, or 34.74%
-- Marsha J. Evans: 68,346,068 withheld/against votes, or 36.20%
-- W. Scott Hedrick: 68,130,853 withheld/against votes, or 36.09% "The fact that five of the 12 Office Depot director nominees received such
a large number of withhold votes should send a strong signal to the current
board and management that shareholders are committed to holding this board
accountable for the Company's performance," said Alan B. Levan, President of
Woodbridge Capital Corporation, the General Partner of Woodbridge Equity Fund
LLLP.
"While Office Depot's management and board have pledged to turn around the
Company's business, we were again disappointed by the Company's first quarter
results. However, with disciplined management and effective board leadership
and oversight, we believe Office Depot can and will regain a dominant
competitive position in the office retailing space. We intend to continue to
monitor the Company's performance and progress in implementing its strategic
turnaround plan in the months ahead," concluded Mr. Levan.
Woodbridge is a beneficial owner of 3,000,200 shares of Office Depot
common stock.
Woodbridge Equity Fund LLLP
Woodbridge Capital Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Levitt
Corporation, is the general partner of, and Levitt Corporation is the limited
partner of, Woodbridge Equity Fund LLLP.
Levitt Corporation
Levitt Corporation, directly and through its wholly-owned subsidiaries,
historically has been a real estate development company. Going forward,
Levitt Corporation intends to pursue acquisitions and investments
opportunistically within and outside the real estate industry.
Contacts:
Steve Lipin/Nina Devlin
Brunswick Group
212.333.3810
SOURCE Woodbridge Equity Fund LLLP
Steve Lipin or Nina Devlin, both of Brunswick Group for Woodbridge Equity Fund LLLP, +1-212-333-3810,
Join the discussion
The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Not a registered user? It's Free!
Register here. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.
