Details Prolonged Period of Shareholder Value Destruction Caused by Poor Performance, Poor Operating Execution and Poor Capital Allocation
Believes CEO and Incumbent Board Are Ineffective, Over Tenured and Entrenched and Cannot be Trusted to Oversee Much-Needed Change Following Years of Empty Promises
Barington's Nominees Bring the Leadership Experience and Sector Expertise the Board Urgently Needs to Unlock Matthews' Embedded Value
Urges Shareholders to Vote the GOLD Proxy Card "FOR" the Election of ALL of Barington Capital's Nominees
NEW YORK, Jan. 23, 2025 -- Barington Capital Group, L.P. ("Barington Capital"), a fundamental, value-oriented activist investor that, together with the other participants in its solicitation (collectively "Barington" or "we"), beneficially owns approximately 1.9% of the outstanding shares of Matthews International Corporation (NASDAQ: MATW) ("Matthews" or the "Company"), today announced that it has released a comprehensive presentation outlining the path to maximizing value at Matthews following a prolonged period of shareholder value destruction overseen by the Company's long-tenured Board of Directors (the "Board") and Chief Executive Officer. The presentation also highlights why Barington's director nominees are the change agents urgently needed on the Board to ensure the Board is acting in the best interest of shareholders.
Barington encourages Matthews' shareholders to review the presentation so they can make an informed decision at the Company's 2025 Annual Meeting of Shareholders regarding the future of their investment.
Barington's presentation can be found at https://barington.com/matthews.
Key highlights of the presentation include:
- Barington's Extended Engagement with Matthews: Since entering into an agreement in December 2022 pursuant to which Barington served as consultant to the Company, the Matthews team has kept Barington at arms-length, limiting interactions to mostly quarterly phone calls, and, in our view, demonstrating little intent to meaningfully engage. As a result, we witnessed little evidence of progress on any of our recommendations until we called for the Company to replace its CEO and indicated our intent to nominate directors.
- Many Years of Underperformance, Poor Capital Allocation, Poor Operating Execution and Excessive Spending at Matthews: We believe poor capital allocation and deteriorating operating results – caused in large part by failed acquisitions and ineffective capital expenditures – have caused Matthews' shares to trade at declining multiples since Joseph Bartolacci started his role as CEO in 2006.
- Matthews Has Significant Value Potential: As set forth in more detail in the presentation, our analysis suggests that the Company's businesses could have a combined value of $44-57 per share, not including any additional value from its Energy Storage business.
- Matthews' CEO and Board are Ineffective, Over Tenured and Entrenched: We believe Mr. Bartolacci has a long history of using promises of future value creation from the Company's investments to divert attention from its deteriorating performance. Worse, we believe the incumbent Board has failed to hold Mr. Bartolacci accountable for making empty promises that have resulted in shareholder value destruction.
- Change Must Begin at the Top: Despite Matthews' claims, we do not believe that the Company is implementing most of Barington's recommendations. We strongly believe that a vote for Matthews' director nominees will embolden the Company to maintain its untenable status quo, resulting in continued value destruction for shareholders.
- The Strength of Barington's Nominees: Barington has nominated Ana Amicarella, Chan Galbato and James Mitarotonda – three highly accomplished executives with much-needed expertise in key sectors crucial to Matthews' success, considerable experience leading value-creating businesses as CEO, fresh perspectives and an unwavering commitment to putting shareholders' interests first.
- The Path to Driving Long-Term Value Creation at Matthews: Barington recommends that Matthews immediately: 1) refresh the Board and improve corporate governance; 2) promptly commence a search for a new CEO; 3) focus on businesses where Matthews can create long-term shareholder value; and 4) increase the amount of Matthews' planned SG&A expense reduction and allocate cash to reduce indebtedness.
SHOW THE BOARD THAT YOU WILL NO LONGER TOLERATE THE STATUS QUO AND VOTE THE GOLD PROXY CARD TODAY TO HELP MAXIMIZE VALUE AT MATTHEWS
ABOUT BARINGTON CAPITAL GROUP, L.P.
Barington Capital Group, L.P. is a fundamental, value-oriented activist investment firm established by James Mitarotonda in January 2000. Barington invests in undervalued publicly traded companies that Barington believes can appreciate significantly in value when substantive improvements are made to their operations, corporate strategy, capital allocation and corporate governance. Barington's investment team, advisors and network of industry experts draw upon their extensive strategic, operating and boardroom experience to assist companies in designing and implementing initiatives to improve long-term shareholder value.
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