MINNEAPOLIS–Select Comfort has requested a recount of the shareholder votes regarding the proposed stock purchase by Sterling Partners.
As announced in May, Sterling Partners would have bought 50 million shares of Select Comfort stock at 70 cents per share. The shareholders rejected this proposal on Aug. 27, several days after Select Comfort said affiliates of both Sterling Partners and The Clinton Group—a shareholder that has criticized Select Comfort management in the past—had reached an agreement whereby Clinton would be a co-investor in Select Comfort, and that Select Comfort opposed this arrangement.
In the vote, 50.06 of the shareholders voted down the transaction. Because of the closeness of this vote, Select Comfort has asked Broadridge Financial Solutions, an independent tabulation agent and inspector of elections, to perform the recount, according to a Select Comfort statement. Broadridge had originally certified the result of the vote. Meanwhile, the Sterling and Clinton affiliates have asked for access to Select Comfort records and requests related to the vote.