Additional Proxy Soliciting Materials - Non-management (definitive) (dfan14a)
July 10 2017 - 1:51PM
Edgar (US Regulatory)
UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
SCHEDULE
14A
(Rule
14a-101)
INFORMATION REQUIRED IN PROXY STATEMENT
SCHEDULE 14A INFORMATION
Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of
The Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(Amendment No. )
Filed by the Registrant ☐
Filed by a Party other than the Registrant ☒
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Preliminary Proxy Statement
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Confidential, for Use of the Commission Only (as permitted by Rule 14a-6(e)(2))
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Definitive Proxy Statement
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Definitive Additional Materials
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Soliciting Material Under Rule 14a-12
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TAUBMAN CENTERS, INC.
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(Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
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LAND & BUILDINGS CAPITAL GROWTH FUND, LP
L & B REAL ESTATE OPPORTUNITY FUND, LP
LAND & BUILDINGS GP LP
LAND & BUILDINGS INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT,
LLC
JONATHAN LITT
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(Name of Persons(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if Other Than the Registrant)
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Land & Buildings Investment
Management, LLC, together with the other participants named herein (collectively, “Land & Buildings”), has filed
a definitive proxy statement and accompanying
WHITE
request card with the Securities and Exchange Commission to be to be
used to solicit requests for the calling of a special meeting of shareholders of Taubman Centers, Inc., a Michigan corporation
(the “Company”).
Item 1: On July 10, 2017,
Land & Buildings issued the following press release:
Land and Buildings Files Definitive Solicitation
Statement Calling for Special Meeting of Shareholders at Taubman Centers
- Requests that Shareholders Join its
Efforts to Call a Special Meeting and Demands the Board Enact Its Promised and Much-Needed Governance Enhancements –
- Proposes Shareholder Advisory Votes
on 1) Immediate De-staggering of the Board, 2) Consent of Recently Elected Directors to Stand for Re-election at 2018 Annual Meeting
and 3) Refresh of the Board With Three New Truly Independent Directors Prior to the 2018 Annual Meeting –
- Urges Shareholders to Again Have Their
Voices Heard by Consenting to Land and Buildings’ Request that Taubman Call a Special Meeting on the
WHITE
Request
Card
Today
-
Stamford, CT
, July 10, 2017 – Land &
Buildings Investment Management, LLC (together with its affiliates, "Land and Buildings") today issued the following
letter to shareholders of Taubman Centers, Inc. (NYSE: TCO) (“Taubman,” “Taubman Centers” or the "Company”),
announcing that Land and Buildings has filed and mailed a definitive solicitation statement requesting that shareholders join its
efforts to call a special meeting of Taubman shareholders and demand that the Board of Directors immediately enact its promised
and much-needed governance enhancements. Please refer to www.SaveTaubman.com to view the solicitation statement and other materials
regarding the Company.
The full text of the letter follows:
Dear Fellow Taubman Shareholders:
Land and Buildings believes it is
imperative that the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Taubman Centers, Inc. (“Taubman,” “Taubman
Centers” or the "Company”) immediately enact its promised and much-needed governance enhancements. A majority
of Taubman’s common shareholders that voted at the 2017 Annual Meeting sent a clear message that change is needed on the
Board when they expressed their views that Chairman and CEO Bobby Taubman and Lead Director Myron Ullman should be voted off the
Board. Yet solely as a result of the voting power of the Preferred Stock, the reaction is business as usual: disenfranchise common
shareholders to the benefit of the Taubman Family, in our view.
Rather than substantively respond
to our private and then public requests for specific details regarding the Company’s announced plans to de-stagger and refresh
the Board in a meaningful way, Taubman focused instead on reimbursing our expenses related to the 2017 proxy contest and tying
us to a three-year standstill.
We are asking shareholders to again
have their voices heard that change is desperately needed at Taubman by consenting to our request that Taubman Centers call the
special meeting, at which we would propose advisory votes on the following items:
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1)
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Immediate declassification of the Board;
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2)
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The consent of the directors recently elected
at the 2017 Annual Meeting to agree to stand for election at the 2018 Annual Meeting together with the directors elected in 2015;
and
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3)
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To carry out the promised refreshment of
the Board by replacing three incumbent directors with three new independent directors by no later than the 2018 Annual Meeting.
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Land and Buildings believes it is imperative that the
Board immediately commit to its promise to declassify and refresh the Board, and that delaying these actions would be to the detriment
of all shareholders. This is why we have filed a Special Meeting Request Solicitation Statement soliciting the written request
of at least 25% of the shares that are entitled to vote in order to call the special meeting. Once the 25% threshold has been reached,
we will formally call for the special meeting and send proxy materials urging shareholders to vote in favor of the proposals listed
above.
We believe there is a clear mandate from shareholders that change
is needed at the Company given the near-unanimous support that Land and Buildings’ nominees - Charles Elson and myself –
received at the 2017 Annual Meeting from active fund managers, the unanimous support they received from all three independent proxy
advisory firms – Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), Glass, Lewis & Co. (Glass Lewis) and Egan Jones – and
the fact that our nominees received a significant majority of the votes cast by non-Taubman family shareholders.
The Taubman family’s 30.2% voting power, which we
believe is a violation of the ownership limitation contained in the Company’s Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation
(the “Charter”), as well as certain eleventh hour promises to enhance the Company’s governance practices were
the only reasons, in our view, that Charles Elson and myself were not elected to the Board, and Chairman and CEO Bobby Taubman
and Lead Director Myron Ullman remained in the boardroom.
We believe our efforts to date have been successful in
forcing the Company to acknowledge its serious governance deficiencies, with the Company going so far as to publicly promise that
it was “committed to transitioning to annual elections for directors and pursuing accelerated Board refreshment.” However,
the Company made these hurried promises without truly circumscribing them, thereby allowing the Board to kick the can to the 2018
Annual Meeting, perhaps hoping that the disillusionment of investors would fade over time and allow for the Board to make merely
incremental changes on its own schedule absent shareholder scrutiny.
We therefore urge shareholders to not yet give up the
fight and continue to support our case for change by joining us in requesting that the Company call a special meeting. External
pressure has begun to catalyze some long-needed changes at Taubman Centers, and we believe keeping the pressure on is the only
way to ensure these changes are ultimately made without delay.
Please support our efforts to call a special meeting by
consenting on the
WHITE
request card
TODAY.
Complaint to Enforce Charter
Land and Buildings is proceeding with its Complaint asking
the Court to enforce the Ownership Limit outlined in Taubman’s Charter.
###
Sincerely,
Jonathan Litt
Founder & CIO
Land and Buildings Investment Management, LLC
###
Media Contact:
Dan Zacchei / Joe Germani
Sloane & Company
212-486-9500
Dzacchei@sloanepr.com
JGermani@sloanepr.com
Investor Contact:
Edward McCarthy
D.F. King & Co., Inc.
212-493-6952
emccarthy@dfking.com
Item 2: The following materials
were posted by Land & Buildings to www.savetaubman.com:
Taubman Centers (NYSE:TCO)
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From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Taubman Centers (NYSE:TCO)
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From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024