Billionaire Einhorn Loses Faith in Sunedison Inc. (SUNE), Daniel Och Discloses Stake in Promising Square Inc. (SQ), Plus 2 Other Moves

Intensifying Proxy Fight Between Red Mountain and iRobot

Let’s turn our focus onto the ongoing proxy fight between Willem Mesdag’s Red Mountain Capital Partners LLC and iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ:IRBT), which is getting uglier and uglier as the upcoming meeting of shareholders approaches. Earlier this week, Red Mountain sent another letter to iRobot shareholders responding to “a series of attacks contained in a letter to shareholders” from iRobot Chairman and CEO Colin Angle, dated April 14. Precisely, Mr. Mesdag and his team, who seek support for the election of two director nominees (including Mr. Mesdag himself) at the company’s upcoming meeting of shareholders, said that Mr. Angle attacked the “relevancy of our candidates’ experience and our understanding of the Company’s business”. Red Mountain said that the Board of the robotics company has already adopted many components of the value-enhancement set of proposals disclosed by the activist shareholder in April 2015, pointing out that the Board clearly agrees with the investment firm’s understanding of iRobot’s business. More importantly, Mr. Mesdag’s fund acknowledges that this intensifying proxy fight comes down to a single point: “Should a significant shareholder be represented in the boardroom?” Red Mountain believes that the Board “urgently requires a shareholder perspective in order to establish a culture of accountability” given the company’s disappointing track record of returns on investment. According to the most recent 13D filing, Red Mountain owns 1.78 million shares of iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ:IRBT), which account for 6.15% of the company’s shares. That total was reiterated by the firm in its latest letter to shareholders, as it claimed ownership of about 6.2% of the company’s shares. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management owns 20,733 shares of iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ:IRBT) as of March 31.

Disclosure: None