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Shareholder Opposes “Cascade of Transactions” Pursued by This Real Estate Operating Company

As revealed by a freshly-amended 13D filing, David J. Winters’ Wintergreen Advisers LLC  sent a letter to the independent directors of Consolidated-Tomoka Land Co. (NYSEMKT:CTO) on April 21, in which it expressed discontent with the company’s announcement of certain transactions. Wintergreen’s position in the diversified real estate operating company has not changed since we covered the holding last time and the fund currently owns 1.54 million shares of Consolidated-Tomoka, which make up a whopping 26.1% of the company’s outstanding stock.

In late November, Mr. Winters’ Wintergreen Advisors submitted a proxy proposal requesting Consolidated-Tomoka Land Co. (NYSEMKT:CTO)’s Board to hire or engage an independent advisor to evaluate means of maximizing shareholder value through the sale of the whole company or the “orderly” liquidation of its assets. Although the Board did not “take a position on the proposal”, the members of the boardroom formed a special committee to explore those alternatives presented by Wintergreen, as well as hired Deutsche Bank to serve as independent advisor to the special committee. However, Wintergreen believes that the management of Consolidated-Tomoka Land has hindered “Deutsche Bank’s ability to do its job” by announcing a number of transactions that include the sale of 16 income properties, subsurface mineral rights, pad sites, and additional land sales. As a result, Wintergreen believes that the Board must “put a halt to this ongoing cascade of transactions, and reaffirm its full and ongoing support for Deutsche Bank’s directive”. Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital owned 107,604 shares of Consolidated-Tomoka Land Co. (NYSEMKT:CTO) at the end of 2015.