Activist Paul Singer Orchestrated Polycom-Mitel Merger Deal, Plus 2 Ongoing Activist Fights

Harvest Capital’s Ongoing Proxy Fight with Green Dot

Earlier this week, Joseph A. Jolson’s Harvest Capital Strategies LLC filed with the SEC its definitive proxy materials in connection with Green Dot Corporation (NYSE:GDOT)’s upcoming annual meeting of shareholders, urging shareholders to vote for the election of its three nominees, including Saturnino Fanlo, George W. Gresham, and Philip B. Livingston, to the Board. According to fresh filings, Harvest Capital owns 4.72 million shares of the provider of reloadable prepaid debit cards, which make up 9.4% of the company’s outstanding shares. Similarly, Green Dot also sent a letter to shareholders urging them to vote for its slate of three director nominees that includes the company’s current Chief Executive Officer, Steven W. Streit. The activist shareholder asserts that “Although the election of our nominees to the Board at the Annual Meeting would not remove Mr. Streit as CEO and may not results in his termination as CEO, given that our nominees would only constitute a minority of the Board, we believe it would demonstrate a vote of no confidence in Mr. Streit’s ability to lead the Company”. Last week, Green Dot Corporation (NYSE:GDOT) announced the appointment of three new independent directors to its Board, as well as the increase of the size of the Board to ten seats from eight seats (one non-independent director stepped down). As a result, San Francisco-based Harvest Capital recently claimed that the company’s decision to increase the Board size will diminish the influence of Harvest-nominated directors, assuming they will be elected by shareholders (read more details). Shares of Green Dot are 32% in the green year-to-date. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Advisors LLC owned 1.46 million shares of Green Dot Corporation (NYSE:GDOT) at the end of December.

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