Hestia Capital Issues Open Letter to Pitney Bowes Employees Regarding the Path to a Brighter Future
April 06 2023 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
Believes New Leadership with Turnaround
Experience Can Improve Profitability Across SendTech, Presort and
Global Ecommerce to Unlock Significant Value
Expresses Enthusiasm for Restoring Pitney
Bowes to Its Rightful Place as the Dominant Player in Postage and
Parcel Related Services, Which Will Provide Stability and Pride for
All Employees
View New Videos from Hestia’s Nominees at
www.TransformPitneyBowes.com/Our-Nominees
Hestia Capital Management, LLC (collectively with its
affiliates, “Hestia” or “we”), which is the third largest
stockholder of Pitney Bowes, Inc. (NYSE: PBI) (“Pitney Bowes” or
the “Company”) and has a beneficial ownership position of 8.5% of
the Company’s outstanding common stock, today issued a letter to
Pitney Bowes employees expressing its enthusiasm for bringing
stability to the Company and all its stakeholders.
This press release features multimedia. View
the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230406005238/en/
Hestia is seeking to elect five highly qualified and independent
candidates to Pitney Bowes’ nine-member Board of Directors (the
“Board”) at the 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the “Annual
Meeting”). To maximize the likelihood of a turnaround at Pitney
Bowes, we urge you to vote for Hestia’s full slate on the
WHITE proxy card or
WHITE voting instruction form.
Visit www.TransformPBI.com to download a copy of today’s letter,
view videos from our nominees and sign up for future updates.
***
Dear Pitney Bowes Employees,
I would like to start by thanking each and every one of you for
your service at Pitney Bowes. During my involvement with the
Company over the past few years, I have been incredibly impressed
by the commitment to Pitney Bowes shared by the current and past
employees with whom I have spoken. You have been a part of
something special, and I am dedicated to ensuring the Company
continues to be special for many decades to come. Previously, I
pursued similar changes at GameStop, where I joined the Board of
Directors and played a pivotal role in raising capital which
allowed the Company to pay off debt and invest in future growth. I
hope to bring similar stability to Pitney Bowes and all of you.
This brings me to the reason for my letter.
Hestia is a top stockholder of Pitney Bowes, with ownership of
8.5% of the Company’s shares. We intend to be a stockholder of the
Company for as long as it takes to help transform the Company. We
believe Pitney Bowes is an incredibly valuable business that has
suffered for almost a decade for one primary reason: the Company’s
Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer are committed to a
failed strategy that is neither strategically sound nor
economically sustainable. This strategy has caused Pitney Bowes’
share price to decline approximately 50% over the past decade,
while free cash flow has dropped 90% and the Company has suffered
six credit downgrades.
In order to return Pitney Bowes to the status it once held –
benefiting all stakeholders, including yourselves – we are
attempting to force the Board to change course. We have nominated
five highly qualified, independent director candidates for election
to the Company’s nine-member Board at this year’s critically
important Annual Meeting of Stockholders so that we may effect this
change. Please visit www.TransformPitneyBowes.com/Our-Nominees to
meet and hear directly from each of our nominees.
Our nominees intend to replace Chief Executive Officer Marc
Lautenbach with a proven interim Chief Executive Officer – Lance
Rosenzweig – who has created significant value when leading other
turnarounds. Our nominees are also committed to: Increasing
investment in, and improving profitability at, SendTech and
Presort; cutting excessive corporate costs; improving profitability
of, and reviewing strategic alternatives for, Global Ecommerce; and
establishing a capital allocation policy that reduces debt and
retains the dividend.
Do not be misled by any claims that our nominees are hinging our
plan on layoffs, salary reductions or benefits cuts. Our issues are
with leadership, not with you. Also, please know that your vote is completely confidential, so
we hope you feel confident voting for who you believe is best
suited to lead our Company, without fear of reprisal from current
leadership.
We intend to honor your service to Pitney Bowes by restoring the
Company to its rightful place as the dominant name in postage and
parcel related services, providing stability and pride for all
employees and improving the quality of your compensation and
retirement by increasing the Company’s share price.
We value your commitment to our Company and look forward to
working with you to revive and transform Pitney Bowes. We are
advocating for your interests and will continue to keep you
apprised of our efforts.
You can visit www.TransformPitneyBowes.com to learn how to vote
for our full slate on the WHITE
proxy card or WHITE voting
instruction form. You can also contact our proxy solicitor by
calling 212-257-1311 or emailing info@saratogaproxy.com.
PLEASE KNOW THAT YOUR
INTERACTION WITH OUR PROXY SOLICITOR AND YOUR VOTING DECISION ARE
COMPLETELY CONFIDENTIAL.
Sincerely, Kurt Wolf Hestia Capital Management LLC
***
About Hestia Capital
Hestia Capital is a long-term focused, deep value investment
firm that typically makes investments in a narrow selection of
companies facing company-specific, and/or industry, disruptions.
Hestia seeks to leverage its General Partner's expertise in
competitive strategy, operations and capital markets to identify
attractive situations within this universe of disrupted companies.
These companies are often misunderstood by the general investing
community or suffer from mismanagement, which we reasonably expect
to be corrected, and provide the 'price dislocations' which allows
Hestia to identify, and invest in, highly attractive risk/reward
investment opportunities.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230406005238/en/
Saratoga Proxy Consulting LLC John Ferguson / Joe Mills,
212-257-1311 info@saratogaproxy.com
Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024