We are writing to solicit your proxy vote for a shareholder proposal at Live Nation to have the Company put its poison pill plan before shareholders for a vote. In December 2015, Live Nation without obtaining any shareholder permission extended its prior 10-year pill for another 5 years. This pill allows the Board in effect to block acquisitions of more than 15% of the Company's stock unless the Board supports the acquisition - even if the Board is unwilling to support an acquisition out of personal sympathy for managers at risk of replacement by a new owner rather than out of concern solely for existing shareholders. The current pill is not limited to situations where a takeover effort is coercive or priced below a certain point.
The poison pill presents a potent anti-takeover device that might adversely affect shareholder value by discouraging offers to acquire the Company that could be beneficial to shareholders. Our resolution preserves the right of a Board to put in place a short-term poison pill if the Board believes it must do so in exercising its fiduciary responsibilities. However, our resolution if enacted into the bylaws would require the Board to submit any such pill for shareholder approval within a 90-day period absent fiduciary duties mandating otherwise.
"Poison pills are like a dictator who says, 'Give up more of your freedom and I'll take care of you.'" T.J. Dermot Dunphy, CEO of Sealed Air (NYSE) for 25 years, Wall Street Journal (4/28/99). "Poison pills... prevent shareholders, and the overall market, from exercising their right to discipline management by turning it out. They entrench the current management, even when it's doing a poor job. They water down shareholders' votes and deprive them of a meaningful voice in corporate affairs." - "Take on the Street" by Arthur Levitt, SEC Chairman, 1993-2001.
The Company describes its pill as follows in its 10-K filed February 2016:
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A copy of the pill is available from the SEC's website as Exhibit 4.1 to the Company's 8-K filed 12/24/15, incorporated herein by this reference (a copy is available by contacting us below).
The Company's stock performance is not such that shareholders should ignore this corporate governance problem:
The Company's pill has some extreme aspects, whereby if an investor not supported by the Board seeks more than 15% of the stock, this gives every other shareholder (1) the right to purchase preferred stock at a major discount ($80 per share for preferred stock having 100 votes per share),1 plus (2) flip-in and flip-over provisions allowing every shareholder except the large acquiror to purchase common stock at approximately half its market price.2 While the new pill also contains provisions allowing 10% of shareholders to petition for a vote on a proposed acquisition if such acquisition meets several requirements, in our opinion the expense of such a petitioning process and the burdensomeness of those requirements causes them to hardly soften this pill's deterrent effects on potential acquisitions.3
The vast majority of public companies do not have pills; the majority of S&P 500 companies had them at one point but most have abandoned them. The majority of shareholder resolutions against pills in recent years have received majority support. Indeed, at Comcast in 2012, despite opposition from the Chairman who held 33% of the votes, a majority of shareholders voted in favor of a similar anti-pill proposal.
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Some apologists for pills argue that managers perform better if provided the job security offered by pills, but this argument holds little weight at Live Nation, as its senior executives already have written long-term employment agreements providing them with ample job security. You can read about these agreements in the Company's proxy statements available at www.sec.gov.
There are at least two more good reasons to vote "no" on the Company's advisory say-on-pay resolution:
Everyone understands that paying severance to someone who is getting fired is the right thing to do. The problem is that management has written executive severance deals to go far beyond that, to make the same ample severance payment to any executive who quits for a "good reason" as specially defined in those agreements. Most investors would also agree that if a company forces someone to quit, it probably should pay them severance just as if it openly fired them. But these agreements go beyond the "constructive discharge" situation.4
Live Nation's agreements define "good reason" to include any "substantial" or "material" "reduction in duties [or] "responsibilities. But many overworked employees would be happy to have reduced duties. We believe such severance is a waste of the shareholders' money: executives should not be rewarded for quitting due to their taking offense over a perceived slight to their self-importance.
Also, these agreements promise severance if the Company's offices are moved outside Los Angeles - even if the Company has offered to buy the executive a new home and pay all relocation expenses. Corporate headquarters move all the time, particularly when one company is acquired by another. This so-called "good reason" deters potential acquisitions that might benefit shareholders.
The promised payouts for "good reason" quits for the five senior Live Nation executives total well over $100,000,000 (see page 44 of the Company's proxy statement).
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The rank-and-file employees of Live Nation have nothing similar (nor would even consider asking for something so contrary to shareholder interests), so such severance agreements are bad for morale. Moreover, such agreements could lead employees to think they need not themselves be flexible about changes like reduced responsibilities or office relocation if the Company needs them to make such adjustments. These agreements send the wrong message to the Live Nation workforce.
The majority of the executives' compensation here is in the form of cash as opposed to stock or stock options, but we believe most shareholders prefer it be weighted the other way. Moreover, the sole target used to determine cash bonuses is Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). We believe multiple variables should be considered instead, including stock price and overall profits: Live Nation had net losses of $0.33 per share last year (its 10th consecutive year of showing a loss instead of a profit) yet the target AGI amount for bonuses was met. Using AGI excludes from consideration tens of millions of dollars in acquisition expenses and non-cash and stock-based compensation, much of which are within the scope of responsibility of these executives.5
WE RECOMMEND SHAREHOLDERS VOTE "NO" ON SAY-ON-PAY AT LIVE NATION.
The sole participants in this solicitation at this time are the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and Neil Gluckman. IATSE's offices are located at the above address and 207 W.25th St. 4th Floor, New York, NY 10001. IATSE is the owner of 300 shares of Live Nation common stock. Mr. Gluckman is business representative of IATSE Local 927, 449 1/2 Moreland Ave. #215, Atlanta, GA 30307. Mr. Gluckman also owns 300 shares of the Company's common stock which he has held for several years. He alone filed the proposal with the Company Secretary. IATSE is a labor organization with over 126,000 members whose representatives serve as pension fund trustees investing over $8 billion in assets. IATSE represents thousands of the Company's employees and its national collective bargaining agreement with the Company has expired. Local 927 does not represent any of the Company's employees (the Company in Georgia has instead utilized staffing agencies which claim the workers staffing the Company's shows are independent contractors vis-a-vis the staffing agency and on that basis defeated their petition for representation by Local 927). We do not seek your support in labor matters and do not believe that enactment of the proposals would have any impact on such matters. We will vote each proxy card received in accordance with the shareholder's instructions. We do not seek any discretionary voting authority for the shareholders meeting; rather, we will vote stock solely as directed. If you return the enclosed card but give us no instructions, we will vote your stock FOR our proposal, FOR ratification of the auditor and not vote on any other matter. The persons named as proxyholders in our proxy card are attorneys employed full-time by IATSE familiar with their duties to shareholders who granted proxies.
IATSE will bear all solicitation costs (anticipated at $9700) and will not seek reimbursement from the Company. It will solicit proxies by mail, phone, e-mail, fax and in-person using its regular staff, who shall not receive any additional compensation, but it may also hire an outside solicitor. It will reimburse banks, brokers, and other custodians, nominees or fiduciaries for reasonable expenses incurred in forwarding proxy material to beneficial owners.
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We incorporate by reference all information concerning the Board of Directors and voting procedures contained in management's proxy statement at pages 1-19 .
According to the Company's bylaws, any amendment of such bylaws requires "the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the total voting power of the Voting Stock, voting together as a single class". However, as a precatory proposal, it would be sufficient for this proposal to receive a majority of shares actually voted instead of a majority of the outstanding stock. However, we intend to solicit a majority of the voting power of the stock held in the Company.
There is a debate between Delaware corporation law experts about whether shareholders have the legal right to bind boards through the bylaws in the manner requested by this proposal. We believe based on advice of counsel that there is a fair argument that shareholders may do so here: see Teamsters v. Fleming Cos., 975 P.2d 907 (Ok. 1999)(holding shareholders entitled to enact binding pill bylaw proposal under similar Oklahoma corporation law). We believe this legal debate is immaterial, as our proposal says it will be precatory if legally it cannot be binding.
PLEASE USE THE ENCLOSED PROXY CARD TO VOTE FOR THE PROPOSAL. YOU WILL ALSO RECEIVE A PROXY CARD FROM MANAGEMENT. IF YOU SUPPORT OUR PROPOSAL, DO NOT SEND BACK MANAGEMENT'S CARD. ANY PROXY CARD YOU HAVE SIGNED IS CANCELLED OUT BY SUBMITTING A LATER-DATED PROXY CARD.
In corporate elections, simply submitting a new proxy card with a later date on it revokes your prior card. A proxy vote may be revoked any time prior to the tally at the shareholders meeting by signing and submitting a new proxy card, by sending written notice of revocation to the proxy holder, or by appearing at the meeting and voting in-person.
The Board of Directors has been nominated by the Company, not IATSE, and we are not making a recommendation on the Directors election. We seek no discretionary voting authority for the meeting: we will vote your stock as you instruct us. If you return our proxy card but give us no instructions, we will vote your stock FOR our proposal, AGAINST approval of compensation paid to the Company's executive officers, FOR ratification of the auditor and not vote on any other matter. The Company's bylaws require advance notice before any matter may be raised at the meeting, and therefore we do not expect any matter to be raised at the meeting that is not addressed in this Notice or the Company's proxy statement. The record date for eligibility to vote is April 18, 2016 .
We incorporate by reference the information contained in management's proxy statement at pages 4-5, 20-21, and 28-51 .
PLEASE RETURN THE ENCLOSED PROXY CARD TODAY, AS INSTRUCTED ON THE CARD.
For more information, contact IATSE at (818) 980-3499 or shareholderrights@iatse.net.
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The undersigned hereby designates Andrew Kahn and James Varga, with full power of substitution, as the proxies of the undersigned for the sole purpose of voting all stock of the undersigned in the manner marked below at the Live Nation annual shareholders meeting for 2016. This proxy card grants no discretionary voting authority: if matters come before the meeting other than the items below, the stock of the undersigned will not be voted on such matters.
1. ELECTION OF DIRECTORS:☐ FOR | ☐ AGAINST | ☐ ABSTAIN |
☐ FOR | ☐ AGAINST | ☐ ABSTAIN |
☐ FOR | ☐ AGAINST | ☐ ABSTAIN |
☐ FOR | ☐ AGAINST | ☐ ABSTAIN |