Federal Signal Sends Letter to Stockholders
Urges Shareholders to Vote FOR the Board’s Nominees on the WHITE Proxy Card Today
Federal Signal’s Board of Directors unanimously recommends that stockholders elect the Company’s highly-qualified nominees –
Following is the text of the letter from
Dear Fellow Federal Signal Stockholder:
At Federal Signal’s upcoming Annual Meeting of Stockholders scheduled for
Your vote is extremely important. We urge you to vote for your Company’s nominees TODAY by telephone, Internet or by signing, dating and returning the WHITE proxy card in the postage-paid envelope provided.
We are convinced that
WARREN KANDERS’ NUMBER ONE PRIORITY IS WARREN KANDERS
We strongly believe that
- In 2008,
Warren Kanders was considered and rejected as a chief executive officer candidate of Federal Signal. Federal Signal’s Board conducted a robust CEO search process and vetted a number of candidates, includingWarren Kanders . In our view,Warren Kanders was, and still is, the wrong person to lead Federal Signal. Shortly afterWarren Kanders was rejected as a CEO candidate, he embarked on a disruptive publicity campaign in an attempt to discredit Federal Signal. We believeWarren Kanders is now waging a negative proxy campaign in an effort to elect himself and his nominees to your Board because, in part, he is upset that he was rejected last year as a CEO candidate. We also believe he is seeking to circumvent your Board and ultimately insert himself as management of Federal Signal. -
Warren Kanders is quick to criticize Federal Signal, but he has provided NO plan and NO ideas to improve stockholder value. - Warren Kanders’ track record for creating stockholder value is inconsistent – aside from one transaction,
Warren Kanders has presided over decreasing stockholder value at most of the companies with which he is or has been involved:- Stamford Industrial Group (formerly Net Perceptions).
Warren Kanders served as executive chairman of Net Perceptions fromApril 2004 toOctober 2006 and continues to serve as its non-executive chairman. Since 2004, under Warren Kanders’ leadership, Stamford Industrial Group was delisted from NASDAQ (while still known as Net Perceptions), underwent a 1-for-5 reverse stock split, and changed its name and stock symbol. Today the company still trades on the OTC Pink Sheets. SinceWarren Kanders took over inApril 2004 throughApril 1, 2009 , the company’s stock price is down approximately 5%, far worse than the S&P Steel Index, which was up 47% over that same time period. - Langer, Inc.
Warren Kanders has served as chairman of Langer sinceNovember 2004 . Since that time throughApril 1, 2009 , Langer’s stock price has fallen approximately 95%, materially underperforming the S&P 500 Index, which was down only approximately 28%. In addition, in a span of two months during 2008, Kanders oversaw the sale of two of Langer’s businesses at a loss:- In
June 2008 , Langer sold its Regal Medical Supply business for only$501,000 – approximately one-third of the$1.4 million purchase price paid by Langer inJanuary 2007 (only 15 months prior). Langer recorded a loss of$1.9 million in 2008 on the sale of Regal. - In
July 2008 , Langer sold its Bi-Op Laboratories business for$2.4 million . Langer recorded a net loss on the transaction of approximately$660,000 , which includes transaction costs of approximately$335,000 .
- In
- Furthermore, with
Warren Kanders as chairman, Langer sold both of these businesses in “insider” transactions:- Regal was sold to
John Shero andCarl David Ray , two of the original owners of Regal from whom Langer acquired Regal inJanuary 2007 . In addition, Mr. Shero served as a vice president of Regal while Regal was owned by Langer. -
Raynald Henry was a shareholder of 9199-9200Quebec , Inc., which acquired Bi-Op Laboratories. Mr. Henry was among the prior owners of Bi-Op that sold Bi-Op to Langer inJanuary 2003 and he also served as a Bi-Op employee under Langer’s ownership.
- Regal was sold to
- Clarus Corporation.
Warren Kanders has served as executive chairman of Clarus sinceDecember 2002 following a proxy contest at that year’s annual meeting. Under Warren Kanders’ tenure, Clarus sold all of its revenue generating assets, and inOctober 2004 , was delisted from NASDAQ. Clarus now trades on the OTC Pink Sheets and continues to have no operating business. FromDecember 2002 throughApril 1, 2009 , Clarus’ stock price is down approximately 25%, almost twice as bad as the performance of the S&P 500 Index, which is down approximately 13%.
- Stamford Industrial Group (formerly Net Perceptions).
-
Warren Kanders has a history of self-dealing transactions extracting millions of dollars from the companies with which he is or has been involved. For example:
Date Payor "Service" Recipient Benefit
Provided Awarded
1999 Armor Holdings - Role in a stock
offering Kanders & Co. $300,000
2001 Armor Holdings - Role in an
acquisition Kanders & Co. $750,000
- Expense reimbursement $187,260
2002 Armor Holdings - Investment banking
services Kanders & Co. $525,000
- Expense reimbursement $302,000
2003 Armor Holdings - Investment banking
services Kanders & Co. $143,000
- Expense reimbursement $61,000
2003- Armor Holdings - Supplemental expense
2004 reimbursement Warren Kanders $68,149
2004- Armor Holdings - Maintenance for
2006 Stamford, CT office Kanders & Co. $870,000
2005 Armor Holdings - Expense reimbursement Warren Kanders $75,000
- Personal use of
company aircraft $70,000
2006 Armor Holdings - Airline travel
reimbursement Warren Kanders $116,160
- Payment in lieu of
fixed perquisites $75,000
2003- Clarus - Aircraft Travel Kanders $175,000
2006 Aviation LLC
2002 Clarus - Proxy fight Warren Kanders,
reimbursement Nicholas
Sokolow &
Burtt Ehrlich $531,343
2006- Stamford
2008 Industrial
Group - Consulting agreement Kanders & Co. $1,100,000
2001- Langer - Consulting fees Kanders & Co. $1,113,611
2007
TOTAL AMOUNT EXTRACTED BY WARREN KANDERS: Approximately $6.5 MILLION
WARREN KANDERS’ NOMINEES ARE NOT INDEPENDENT OF WARREN KANDERS
In 2005,
- Cash severance equal to three times his annual salary; plus
- Cash severance equal to three times
Warren Kanders highest annual bonus; plus - Accelerated vesting of equity compensation; plus
- Other benefits including a cash payment of five times the greatest annual amount of the full cost of maintaining Warren Kanders’ principal office in
Connecticut – although Armor Holdings was based inFlorida .
In addition, under a supplemental executive retirement plan approved by the Armor Holdings Board, the sale of Armor Holdings to BAE provided
Ask yourself whether you can trust
UNLIKE
In stark contrast to
- Independent Board. Upon election of the Company’s nominees, all of your directors, other than Federal Signal’s newly appointed President and CEO,
Bill Osborne , are independent under NYSE rules. - New directors. In 2008, your Board added two new independent and experienced directors –
Dennis Martin andJoseph Wright – who were suggested by one of the Company’s then-largest stockholders. As a result, since 2005, your Board has added five new directors (out of nine continuing directors). Furthermore, ifBill Osborne is elected at the upcoming Annual Meeting, he will be the third new director to join the Board during the last 12 months and the eighth new director (out of ten) to join the Board since 2005. - Separate Chairman and CEO since 2004. The Company has a long-standing history of separating the roles of chairman and CEO and has committed to name a new independent Chairman following conclusion of the 2009 Annual Meeting.
- Your directors have extensive management and/or leadership experience. All of Federal Signal’s Directors have extensive management and leadership experience – six current Directors are or have been CEOs of at least one public company. Your directors are experts in a number of fields, including municipal contracts, government policy, industrials, finance, aviation, defense and information technology – all areas that are critical to Federal Signal’s businesses and future success.
- Stock ownership aligned with stockholder value creation. Federal Signal mandates stock ownership requirements for all directors. In total, Federal Signal’s directors beneficially own 233,382 shares of Federal Signal common stock as of
April 2, 2009 . In addition, Federal Signal’s directors hold currently exercisable options to acquire, in total, 191,855 shares of Federal Signal common stock as ofApril 2, 2009 . - Compensation set annually. Compensation of the Company’s chief executive officer is determined annually by the Board’s Compensation and Benefits Committee, which is comprised solely of independent directors. The Compensation and Benefits Committee works with an independent compensation consultant.
- No poison pill. Federal Signal’s stockholder rights plan expired in
August 2008 , and has not been renewed. - No related-party dealings. In contrast to Warren Kanders’ record evidenced above, none of Federal Signal’s directors or nominees have been compensated by Federal Signal for advisory, consulting or investment banking services, rental office space or private aviation services.
In addition, Federal Signal maintains a “pay for performance” philosophy. Federal Signal’s compensation program recognizes that we are operating in difficult market conditions. Importantly, in 2009, our named executive officers did not receive base salary increases, our newly-hired president and chief executive officer,
Recently, your Board undertook a thorough review of the Company’s compensation practices to ensure that Federal Signal’s compensation program motivates management and is aligned with stockholder value creation. Beginning in 2009, we replaced our economic value program with a new short term incentive bonus plan for management. Details of this plan include: bonuses based on achieving financial measures, primarily, and individual objectives; a clawback feature; and a shift in the mix of awards so that stock options are weighted more heavily than restricted stock and performance share awards.
FEDERAL SIGNAL’S MANAGEMENT TEAM AND BOARD NOMINEES ARE THE RIGHT CHOICE TO ENHANCE VALUE FOR STOCKHOLDERS
Each member of your Board and your Board’s director nominees –
PROTECT THE VALUE OF YOUR INVESTMENT
VOTE FOR YOUR BOARD’s NOMINEES ON THE WHITE PROXY CARD TODAY
We urge you to protect your investment and not risk your Company’s future and prospects by exposing Federal Signal to
On behalf of Federal Signal’s Board of Directors, I thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
/S/
Director
Federal Signal Corporation
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Your Vote Is Important, No Matter How Many Or How Few Shares You Own.
If you have questions about how to vote your shares, or need additional assistance, please contact the firm assisting us in the solicitation of proxies:
INNISFREE M&A INCORPORATED
Stockholders Call Toll-Free: (877) 800-5186
Banks and Brokers Call Collect: (212) 750-5833
IMPORTANT
We urge you NOT to sign any gold proxy card sent to you by
If you have already done so, you have every legal right to change your vote by using the enclosed WHITE proxy card to vote TODAY–by telephone, by Internet, or by signing, dating and returning the WHITE proxy card in the postage-paid envelope provided.
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In connection with the solicitation of proxies, on
Supplemental Proxy Statement Information
This supplement to Federal Signal’s definitive proxy statement dated
Date of Number of Shares of Common Stock
Name Transaction Acquired, Purchased or Sold
---- ----------- ---------------------------
James E. Goodwin 3/30/09 Acquired 3,165 shares (1)
Robert S. Hamada 3/30/09 Acquired 1,703 shares (1)
Dennis J. Martin 3/30/09 Acquired 1,461 shares (1)
Brenda L. Reichelderfer 3/30/09 Acquired 2,954 shares (1)
Joseph R. Wright 3/30/09 Acquired 2,712 shares (1)
(1) Stock awarded in lieu of annual cash director compensation pursuant to
director stock ownership program.
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Your Vote Is Important, No Matter How Many Or How Few Shares You Own.
If you have questions about how to vote your shares, or need additional assistance, please contact the firm assisting us in the solicitation of proxies:
INNISFREE M&A INCORPORATED
Stockholders Call Toll-Free: (877) 800-5186
Banks and Brokers Call Collect: (212) 750-5833
IMPORTANT
We urge you NOT to sign any gold proxy card sent to you by
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About Federal Signal
Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE: FSS) enhances the safety, security and well-being of communities and workplaces around the world. Founded in 1901, Federal Signal is a leading global designer and manufacturer of products and total solutions that serve municipal, governmental, industrial and institutional customers. Headquartered in
SOURCE Federal Signal Corporation
