GREENWICH, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aristeia Capital, L.L.C. (collectively with Aristeia Master, L.P. and certain other affiliates, “Aristeia” or “we” or “us”), a long-term investor in Sina Corporation (NASDAQ: SINA) (“Sina” or the “Company”) and currently one of the Company’s five largest shareholders, owning approximately 3 million shares, today issued the following statement to Sina shareholders in connection with Aristeia’s nomination of two highly-qualified nominees, Thomas J. Manning and Brett H. Krause, to the Company’s Board (the “Board”) at the upcoming Annual Meeting of shareholders (the “Annual Meeting”), which is currently scheduled to be held on November 3, 2017, in Hong Kong at 2:00pm HKT (2:00am EST).
Sina has advised shareholders owning shares in “street name” or through a broker-dealer that they must vote by telephone or Internet before 11:59pm Eastern Daylight Time on Tuesday, October 31, 2017 to ensure that their shares are represented at the Annual Meeting. Aristeia urges shareholders to take the steps necessary to ensure that they are able to vote their shares ahead of this rapidly approaching deadline.
Robert H. Lynch, Jr., Partner, Aristeia Capital, L.L.C., said, “With the voting deadline looming, it is critical for Sina shareholders to exercise their right and responsibility to protect their investment in the Company before it’s too late. The status quo at Sina is simply unacceptable. We estimate that questionable and unnecessary share issuances to insiders have already detracted in excess of $1.5 billion of value from Sina’s public shareholders. As our previous materials clearly show, there is a significant and growing valuation gap at the Company, which, combined with a history of troubling corporate governance issues, is destroying shareholder value. The votes of all of Sina’s shareholders are important to ensuring that true change can occur at the Company.”
“Furthermore, we remind Sina shareholders that the two leading proxy advisory firms, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass, Lewis & Co. (“Glass Lewis”), have clearly supported our case for change. Glass Lewis recommended that Sina shareholders should vote to elect both Thomas Manning and Brett Krause to the Board and ISS recommended that shareholders vote on the BLUE proxy card to elect Thomas J. Manning to the Board. In particular, the proxy advisory firms noted:
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ISS:
- “An examination of the arguments reveals compelling reasons for shareholders to seek change at the company.”1
- “There are a number of other governance issues at play…Each of these factors dilutes the board’s efficiency as a mechanism for aligning the interests of management with those of shareholders.”
- “Manning, who brings experience relevant to the company’s expansion into online finance as well as a sizable record of public board service in China, seems well-suited to add value to the company.”
- “Perhaps most interesting among these five boards is Manning's experience as a director from 2004 to 2010 at the Bank of Communications (BoCom), which is among China’s top five listed, state-owned lenders. Board experience within China’s commercial banking sector seems to be a desirable skillset to add, given the company’s stated plans to make large investments in an expansion into online finance.”
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Glass Lewis:
- “Dissident Nominees Manning and Krause have considerable executive-level financial services experience, including experience investing in China and in Asia, that would likely be of value to the board…Mr. Manning also has considerable public company board experience and Chinese corporate governance expertise…”
- “We find that the incumbent board is stale, with an average tenure of 14 years with all independent directors having served on the board for at least 13 years.”
- “[T]he Company trades at a large discount to estimated NAV and the incumbent board and management appear generally unwilling to do all that is necessary to reduce or eliminate the discount…”
Mr. Lynch continued by saying, “As we have shown, both Thomas Manning and Brett Krause possess the critical regulatory, governance and investment expertise, as well as a deep understanding of the Chinese and Asian markets that are essential to improve poor corporate governance and reduce the significant discount to net asset value at Sina. We urge all shareholders to vote on the BLUE proxy card to elect both of Aristeia’s highly-qualified nominees to the Sina Board to add greatly-needed fresh perspectives and to work constructively with the current directors to close the growing valuation gap and drive long-term value at the Company.”
Please visit www.SinaShareholdersAction.com for additional information, including our in-depth investor presentation, The Case for Change at Sina.
We strongly urge Sina’s shareholders to vote FOR both of our independent and highly-qualified nominees on the BLUE proxy card and to return it in the postage-paid envelope provided.
As Sina has advised, for shareholders owning shares in “street name” or through a broker-dealer, to ensure your shares are represented at the Annual Meeting, we urge you to please vote by telephone or Internet before 11:59 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time, on Tuesday, October 31, 2017, or 11:59 a.m., Hong Kong Time, on Wednesday, November 1, 2017. Due to the Company’s requirement that proxies must be received by it no later than forty-eight (48) hours prior to the Annual Meeting, it is very important that you return your BLUE proxy card to us as soon as possible to ensure that your vote gets counted. If you have already returned a white proxy card to the Company, you can revoke that card by submitting a later-dated BLUE proxy card.
If you have any questions, or require assistance with your vote, please contact Okapi Partners LLC at the number listed below.
PLEASE SIGN, DATE, AND MAIL THE BLUE PROXY CARD TODAY!
If you have any questions, or need assistance voting
your BLUE proxy card, please contact:
Okapi Partners
1212 Avenue of the Americas, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10036
Telephone for Banks, Brokers, and International Shareholders: +1 212-297-0720
Shareholders may call toll-free (from the U.S. and Canada): 877-796-5274
Email: info@okapipartners.com
About Aristeia
Aristeia Capital, L.L.C. (“Aristeia”) is a global investment manager with a twenty-year track record of executing fundamentally based strategies across the capital structure. Founded in 1997, Aristeia aims to achieve superior, risk-adjusted returns for an investor base that includes pension plans, endowments, foundations, other institutions and private clients. The firm’s approximately 50 employees are split between its Greenwich, Connecticut headquarters and a New York City office.
Disclaimer
Any views expressed herein represent the opinion of Aristeia, whose analysis is based solely on publicly available information. No representation or warranty is made as to the accuracy or completeness of any information contained therein and Aristeia disclaims all liability based on such information. The information contained herein does not recommend the purchase or sale of any security nor is it an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. Furthermore, the information contained herein is not intended to be, nor should it be construed or used as, investment, tax or legal advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Aristeia has neither sought nor obtained the consent from any third party to use any statements or information contained herein that have been obtained or derived from statements made or published by such third parties. Any such statements or information should not be viewed as indicating the support of such third parties for the views expressed herein.
1 Permission to quote from the ISS and Glass Lewis report was neither sought nor obtained. Emphases on such quotes used herein have been added by Aristeia.