Events Calendar
In This Section
Goodyear to shutter 92 retailers
Summit jobless rate is at 6.7%
European patent court rules in KSU's favor
Wholesale prices soar last month
Medical products forum is Tuesday
Tips for college students on a limited budget
Second-quarter profit drops at Target
YRC cost for Chinese company could increase to $83.7 million
Most Read Stories
Patrick McManamon: Bumbling Browns put on blooper bonanza
'Homeless' men change often at highway exit
UPDATE: Barberton police investigating suspicious death
Portage County fair is sight to behold
No one injured in Norton blaze
Goodyear to shutter 92 retailers
Blogs:
Akron Law Café:
Gun Rights Spreading Like Wild Fire?
The Heldenfiles:
New "Bachelor"
Patrick McManamon:
Browns make a trade, and now Jamal Lewis is hurt too
Browns Bulletin:
Injury updates
Cleveland Browns:
Cleveland Browns: Team Acquires Defensive Back
Cleveland Indians:
Akron Aeros:
Head hits multiple homers, Aeros score many runs & roster moves
Akron Zips:
Marshall is nation’s 39th best player
Varsity Letters:
Firestone graduate Mark Gangloff earns second gold medal
Kent State Sports:
Evans expected to be in class monday
The Sports Mix:
Cleveland Browns: Maybe It Was the Pants
Ohio Politics:
Remembering Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones
All Da King's Men:
What 60 Minutes Left Out Of The Plame Story
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Authenticity
HRLite House:
Cheers from Boston and APA - Detecting Lying
Akrocentric:
"Sunflower," a poem by Frank Steele
Akron Gamer:
BokBluster:
Potty Humor
Ohio Travels with Betty:
We are coming from Michigan to take our kids to Sea World, but can't find any information, can you help?
Sound Check:
LeRoi Moore, Dave Matthews Band saxophonist dies
Tia's Trends:
Crescendo is for More than Just Music
New York investment company wants to add its members to board to force issue
By Jim Mackinnon Beacon Journal business writer
Published on Tuesday, Oct 23, 2007
For the second time in as many years, a large shareholder in Akron-area resin maker and plastics compounder A. Schulman Inc. plans to wage a proxy contest and wants the company to put itself up for sale.
New York-based investment firm Ramius Capital Group LLC, which owns 7.6 percent of Schulman shares, said in a filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it plans to run a minority slate of four directors for election to the Schulman board at the company's 2007 annual meeting. Ramius said it manages about $9.6 billion in assets.
Schulman' shares on Monday rose $1.31, or 5.8 percent, to $23.92. Shares are up 10.3 percent since Jan. 1, including reinvested dividends, and are down less than 1 percent from a year ago.
In a letter dated July 5 to the Fairlawn company and included in the latest SEC filings, Ramius affiliate Starboard Value & Opportunity Fund LLC said it ''requests that the (Schulman) board of directors immediately engage the services of an investment banking firm to evaluate alternatives that could enhance stockholder value, including but not limited to a merger or outright sale of the company.''
The fund said Schulman's finances and shares have underperformed for years and that ''we do not believe this is an industry problem. . . . This performance, spanning a decade, necessitates a change in strategy.''
The fund's letter asked that its shareholder proposal be included in Schulman's proxy for its next annual meeting.
A. Schulman on Thursday reported strong fourth-quarter results and said its annual net sales rose 10 percent to $1.8 billion. Net income for the year was $22.6 million, or 82 cents a share, down 30.9 percent from $32.7 million, or $1.07 a share, for fiscal 2006.
The company also said it expected a much more profitable fiscal 2008, with net income expected to be more than $36 million, up 59 percent from fiscal 2007.
Schulman executives could not be reached for comment Monday.
Ramius Capital on Monday said it nominated the following people for election to Schulman's board:
Michael Caporale Jr., 56, former president and chief executive of Associated Materials Inc. and a Richfield resident.
Lee Meyer, 58, of Missouri, former president and chief executive of Ply Gem.
Jeffrey M. Solomon, 41, a managing member of Ramius Capital Group and a New York resident.
Mark Mitchell, 46, of New Jersey, a partner of Ramius Capital.
Schulman recently announced it was pushing back its annual meeting from December, when it had been traditionally held, to January.
In 2005, another large shareholder, New York-based investment firm Barington Capital Group, also suggested A. Schulman put itself up for sale.
Barington later said it would try to get a slate of directors elected to the board.
As part of a settlement announced in October 2006, James Mitarotonda, the head of Barington Capital Group, was nominated to the 12-person Schulman board along with a second, Mitarotonda-picked nominee. Both were subsequently elected.
If Ramius Capital's nominees are elected, half of Schulman's 12-person board will be made up of directors who are willing to sell the company or have said they were interested in putting the company up for sale.
Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com.
For the second time in as many years, a large shareholder in Akron-area resin maker and plastics compounder A. Schulman Inc. plans to wage a proxy contest and wants the company to put itself up for sale.
Get the full article here.
Inside Ohio.com
ENTERTAINMENT
Like to bike? Try 8 days of events
City's first bicycle week will start with ceremony at new Towpath Trail bridge over Akron Innerbelt

