Eastbourne Capital Comments on Recent Developments Regarding Amylin Pharmaceuticals
April 24 2009 - 3:24PM
Business Wire
Eastbourne Capital Management, L.L.C. (�Eastbourne�) today
provided the following comment on recent developments in connection
with its solicitation of proxies in support of the election of its
five proposed nominees to the 12 member Board of Directors of
Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (�Amylin�) (NASDAQ: AMLN) at the
Company�s 2009 Annual Meeting of Shareholders:
Rick Barry, Eastbourne Founder and Portfolio Manager, commented,
�We believe that Amylin�s current Board and management is
mischaracterizing our reasons for pursuing significant change to
Amylin�s leadership and we urge shareholders not to be distracted.
We believe that the massive loss of shareholder value Amylin
shareholders have suffered stems from the Company�s failure to
maximize the commercial value of Amylin�s assets. The Board in
place during this period should, in our view, bear responsibility
for what has gone on at Amylin. It is our strong belief that the
upcoming product launch of Exenatide Once-Weekly is Amylin�s best
chance for commercial success. We have no confidence that the
current Board as a group can provide the leadership to successfully
deliver on the Company�s commercial capabilities at this critical
juncture. We believe that two new director nominees selected by the
incumbent Board, in the absence of further change to the Board,
will not adequately address our concerns about the Board
functioning.�
Added Barry, �We also note that in the absence of a waiver of
the Company�s poison pill to allow Eastbourne and Mr. Icahn to
discuss a unified minority slate of non-management director
nominees, Mr. Icahn has filed amended proxy materials indicating
his intention to solicit proxies in support of the election of
three of his nominees and to seek authority to vote for two of the
Eastbourne nominees. We believe Mr. Icahn�s decision advances the
goal of electing a substantial number of shareholder selected
directors drawn from both non-management slates, which would
nevertheless represent only a minority of the Board if elected.
Eastbourne is determined to present shareholders with the best
opportunity to enact change to the Amylin Board and will make a
final determination whether and to what extent to seek authority to
vote for Mr. Icahn�s nominees in light of future developments,
including further actions by the Company or by Mr. Icahn, views
expressed by stockholders or by proxy advisory services in meetings
we expect to have and taking into account developments in the
pending Delaware lawsuit.�
Eastbourne currently owns approximately 12.5% of Amylin�s
outstanding shares.
About Eastbourne Capital Management, L.L.C.
Eastbourne Capital Management is a West Coast-based registered
investment advisor that employs an investment philosophy based on
intensive research, a long-term outlook and a belief in working
alongside portfolio companies to enhance shareholder value.
IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
Security holders are advised to read the proxy statement, white
proxy card and other documents related to the solicitation of
proxies by Eastbourne Capital Management, L.L.C., Black Bear Fund
I, L.P., Black Bear Fund II, L.L.C., Black Bear Offshore Master
Fund, L.P., Richard J. Barry, M. Kathleen Behrens, Marina S.
Bozilenko, Charles M. Fleischman, William A. Nuerge and Jay
Sherwood, from the shareholders of Amylin Pharmaceuticals for use
at the 2009 Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Amylin
Pharmaceuticals when they are available because they will contain
important information. Such materials will, along with other
relevant documents, be available at no charge at the Securities and
Exchange Commission�s website at http://www.sec.gov or by
contacting Mackenzie Partners, Inc. by telephone collect at (212)
929-5500, toll-free at 1-800-322-2885 or by e-mail at
amylinproxy@mackenziepartners.com. Information relating to the
participants in such proxy solicitation is contained in Exhibit 1
to the Schedule 14A filed on February 2, 2009 and available free of
charge at the Securities and Exchange Commission�s website at
http://www.sec.gov.
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