Corvex Capital Pushes for Board Seat at American Realty Capital Properties Inc (ARCP); Check Out Other Stocks Keith Meister is Bullish On

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Keith Meister’s Corvex Capital has revealed further details regarding its negotiations with the management of American Realty Capital Properties Inc (NASDAQ:ARCP) through an amended 13D filing with the SEC. Two updates shed further light on the latest developments, including the fact that Meister has requested a seat on ARCP’s board to help in the process of selecting a new CEO for the company, a request which has thus far been denied.

Keith Meister

Corvex Capital is an activist hedge fund founded by Meister in 2011 with $250 million in seed money from George Soros. It’s hardly surprising the Meister’s fund is activist in nature, as he previously worked at Icahn Capital as the right-hand man of legendary activist and corporate raider, Carl Icahn. The fund has launched a number of campaigns and proxy fights in its brief history, including with another real estate investment trust (REIT) last year, CommonWealth REIT, in which it succeeded in ousting the company’s entire board.

We most recently reported on the situation one month ago, as Meister called for the elimination of the current board. The most recent filing reveals that on March 3, Meister, who has a 7.8% stake consisting of 70.64 million shares, requested to be added as a member of the board of American Realty Capital Properties Inc (NASDAQ:ARCP) following the company’s most recent financial results on March 2, with the goal of being involved in the process of choosing a new CEO and Chairman for the company. However, ARCP denied that request.

On March 7, Meister again reiterated his desire to be added to the board, expressing doubt that he could have any meaningful impact on the selection process of a new CEO without a board seat and access to all the information that directors of the company are privy to. Meister alternatively declared that he would be willing to accept a board seat at the same time as a new CEO is appointed, to help with the composition of the board, and that, if desired, he would be willing to limit the term to last only until the 2015 Annual Meeting. ARCP has thus far failed to accept the second proposal as well.

American Realty Capital Properties Inc (NASDAQ:ARCP) ran into a major accounting scandal last October, when it was revealed the company falsified second quarter 2014 results to cover up mistakes made in its first quarter results. The company was also found to have been making large, inappropriate payments to ARC Properties Advisors LLC, a company that is majority-owned by former chairman Nicholas Schorsch. Shares are down 24.4% since the scandal was uncovered on October 28.

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