NEW YORK-Sun Capital today sent a letter to all shareholders of Furniture Brands International, Inc. urging them to vote for its three director nominees at the company’s annual meeting on May 1.
Sun Capital, which owns a 9.5 percent stake in Furniture Brands, has been trying to acquire the company, which makes Thomasville, Henredon and other furniture lines. Furniture Brands, so far, has rebuffed Sun Capital’s attempts.
In its letter, Sun Capital questions whether Furniture Brands’ latest turnaround plan will “rectify the company’s continued deterioration in financial performance,” and said that the company had failed to appropriately consider two proposals to acquire the company. It goes on to state, “the current Board has, in our view, continued to pursue a failed strategy that has led to substantial stock price declines.”
Sun Capital’s nominees are Alan Schwartz, Sterling Professor of Law at Yale Law School; Ira Kaplan, former chief financial officer of Claire’s Stores Inc.; and T. Scott King, managing director of Sun Capital Partners, Inc. According to Sun Capital, Schwartz and Kaplan are “completely independent of Sun Capital and have absolutely no prior relationship with the firm.”