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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
SCHEDULE 14A INFORMATION
PROXY STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 14(a)
OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
(Amendment No. )
Filed by the Registrant þ
Filed by a Party other than the Registrant o
Check the appropriate box:
o Preliminary Proxy Statement
o Confidential, for Use of the Commission Only (as permitted by Rule 14a-6(e)(2))
o Definitive Proxy Statement
þ Definitive Additional Materials
o Soliciting Material Pursuant to §240.14a-12
PHOENIX TECHNOLOGIES LTD.
(Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)
(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if other than the Registrant)
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On January 30, 2007, Phoenix Technologies Ltd. sent the following letter to its
stockholders:
January 30, 2007
Dear Stockholders:
Vote Your BLUE Proxy Today
Reject the Ramius Group
Your vote for the February 14, 2007 Annual Meeting is very important. Phoenix Technologies
Ltd. (Phoenix or the Company) is facing a proxy fight being waged by a group calling itself the
Ramius Group. The Ramius Group is attempting to elect their own director nominees to your Board in
opposition to nominees recommended by your Boards nominating committee. The Ramius Group has made
proposals to acquire the Company at prices below where the Company is currently trading. We
believe the Ramius Groups nominees have a single, self-serving agenda to promote a sale of
Phoenix to the Ramius Group at a price which your Board believes is unfairly low and which would
give most of the value of the Company to the Ramius Group. As explained below, we strongly urge
stockholders to reject the Ramius Groups solicitation and to support your Board and management.
At this critical time, it is very important that every shareholder vote. Please vote the BLUE
proxy form today, supporting your Board.
The Ramius Groups Self-Serving Agenda
The agenda of the Ramius Group could not be clearer in their proxy material, the Ramius
Group states:
The Ramius Nominees, if elected, will... take those steps that they deem are
necessary or advisable to facilitate the consummation of a sale of the Company to
Admiral Advisors, an affiliate of Ramius Capital, or one of its other affiliates.
If the Ramius Groups nominees were to be elected to your Board they would pursue the sale of
Phoenix to an affiliate of the Ramius Group. They are not presenting a strategic plan or
suggestions to improve the Companys performance. They are not saying that the strategic plan
currently adopted by
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your Board and being successfully implemented by the Companys new management team is the
wrong plan. The only objective of the Ramius Group nominees is to seek to acquire the Company at a
price that your Board believes is inadequate, and that would give most of the value of Phoenix to
the Ramius Group.
We do not believe it is in the best interest of all stockholders to have one-third of your
Board controlled by directors seeking to advance their interests and the interests of their
sponsors at the expense of all of the Companys other shareholders.
Dont Let the Ramius Group Take Away Your Upside
Over the past six months, the Ramius Group has made various proposals to acquire the Company.
The initial proposal was contained in a letter dated July 5, 2006, in which a Ramius Group
affiliate proposed to acquire Phoenix at a price of $5.05 per share. After considering this
proposal in good faith, your Board decided that it undervalued the Company and rejected it.
Apparently agreeing that this offer was too low, the Ramius Group has recently made a number of
other proposals to acquire Phoenix, at prices ranging from $5.25 to $5.35 per share.
Your Board has considered all of the Ramius Groups offers in good faith, and after lengthy
deliberation determined that these offers do not represent fair value for the Company. Your Board
has rejected the Ramius Groups proposal because we are confident in the Companys potential to
yield significantly more value to stockholders than the proposed offer. It should be noted that
the closing price of Phoenix on January 29, 2007 was $6.26, 19% above the Ramius Groups most
recent proposal.
You should also be aware that in July of last year, your Board appointed a strategy committee
to investigate and recommend alternatives for the Companys ownership. We also retained Savvian
Advisors, LLC as an advisor to assess strategic alternatives and present the Company to prospective
strategic and financial buyers who were encouraged to make offers to acquire the Company. Your
Board remains very committed to act in the best interests of the Company and all of its
shareholders, but is not willing to allow the Company to be acquired at a price which does not
fairly value the Company.
In December 2006, your Board concluded that the strategic plan of the new management team, led
by Woody Hobbs, represented the best value for stockholders. Our confidence in this management
team has been rewarded in the increased value of the Companys stock, which has risen from $5.05
per share at the time Woody Hobbs joined the Company, to $6.26 per share on January 29, 2007, an
increase of 24%.
A New Team and a New Direction
We have taken affirmative steps to change the direction of Phoenix. The Board itself has been
revamped, with half of the Board having been appointed in the last two years two new directors
were appointed in 2006 and one new director was appointed in 2005. Your Board has also sought to
improve business practices and has overseen the retention of a new management team. In September
of 2006, Woody Hobbs joined the Company as President and CEO. Woody recently completed the
successful
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turnaround and sale of Intellisync to Nokia. Woody was joined in October, 2006 by Rich Arnold
as EVP, Strategy and Corporate Development and Chief Financial Officer, and Dr. Gaurav Banga as
Chief Technology Officer.
Our new management team has:
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Reduced expenses in line with revenues. |
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Returned the focus of the Company to its core business by: |
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Eliminating fully paid-up license sales ; and |
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Eliminating an unprofitable enterprise applications business and
associated go-to-market infrastructure. |
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Developed a new vision and plan to dramatically increase the Companys value by: |
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Creating a new architecture to extend core business and capitalizing on
market opportunity; |
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Taking advantage of market opportunity, and tailwinds like Vista,
multi-core, and new high function chipsets; and |
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Solving problems that are persistent across the hundreds of millions of
installed PCs. |
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Begun successful execution on our approved strategic plan. |
We are Seeing Results
We are encouraged by the progress that has been made. Below are some of the highlights of the
results we are seeing.
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Revenues are above internal plans (though guidance was not given for Q1). |
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Revenues in the first quarter of 07 increased by 17% over previous quarter. |
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Gross margins increased 36% over the previous quarter. |
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Net loss on a GAAP basis was reduced from $14.3 million in the fourth quarter to
$8.0 million in the first quarter. |
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New revenue contracts have been signed at higher ASPs. |
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Expenses are below internal plans. |
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There has been a dramatic reduction of operating loss. |
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Relationships with major ecosystem players have been materially improved. |
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Rigorous product pricing/deal terms including first re-monetization of fully
paid up license customers. |
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Rationalization of service revenues. |
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Senior management is engaged with customers directly. |
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Market is recognizing the importance of our systems software layer and using our
existing stack in new ways. |
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We have made new customer penetration at major OEMS. |
Your Board has Confidence in Phoenixs Potential
Your Boards overriding objective is to build and enhance stockholder value. After
considering many options and alternatives, your Board has confidence in the Companys potential to
yield significantly more value to stockholders than the Ramius Groups proposed offer. The Ramius
Groups nominees admit that their interests on the Board will be to pursue a sale of the Company to
the Ramius Group. Your Board believes that such an agenda is fundamentally inconsistent with the
role of the Board to act in the interests of all shareholders rather than a select group.
Accordingly, your Board strongly and unanimously urges you to reject the Ramius Group and vote to
elect directors who will act on behalf of all of the Companys shareholders. You can
support your Board and management by voting your BLUE proxy today.
Thank you for your continued support.
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On Behalf of the Board of Directors,
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/s/ David S. Dury
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David S. Dury |
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Chairman |
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Sign, Date and Return
the BLUE Proxy Form Today.
Important!
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Regardless of how many shares you own, your vote is very important. Please sign,
date and mail the enclosed BLUE proxy card. |
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Please vote each BLUE proxy card you receive since each account must be voted
separately. |
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We urge you NOT to sign any White proxy card sent to you by the Ramius Group, even as
a sign of protest. |
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Even if you have sent a White proxy card to the Ramius Group, you have every right to change
your vote. You may revoke that proxy, and vote as recommended by management by signing,
dating and mailing the enclosed BLUE proxy card in the enclosed envelope. |
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If your shares are held in the name of a broker, you must return a vote to your
broker in order for your shares to be voted. Your broker cannot vote your shares on your
behalf without your instruction. Please return your BLUE proxy form to your broker or vote in
accordance with the instructions on the enclosed form. |
If you have any questions on how to vote your shares, please call our proxy solicitor:
MORROW
& CO. at (800) 662-5200.
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