Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Notifies Stockholders of Immaculate Confection’s Concerns Regarding AB Value’s Misleading Public CommentsSeptember 30, 2021 at 08:30 AM EDT
RMCF Received Letter From Immaculate Confection Reiterating Support for Strengthening Partnership with Current RMCF Leadership and Concern About AB Value’s False Public Statements Urges Stockholders to Vote "FOR" ALL of the Company's Nominees TODAY on the WHITE Proxy Card Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Inc. (NASDAQ: RMCF) (the "Company" or “RMCF”), one of North America's largest retailers, franchisers and manufacturers of premium, handcrafted chocolates and confections, today notified stockholders that the Company has received a letter from Immaculate Confection, operator of RMCF’s Canadian master franchise network, expressing significant concerns about the misleading information and false statements AB Value Management LLC (“AB Value”) continues to disseminate publicly. In the letter, Brian Kerzner, President of Immaculate Confection, reiterated RMCF’s public statements that the organizations are working productively together to explore potential opportunities to strengthen their relationship. Mr. Kerzner stated his serious concerns with AB Value’s public conduct and expressed his belief that AB Value’s control of RMCF’s Board would likely challenge the ability of the two organizations to collaborate in the future toward growing their business together. RMCF reminds all stockholders to vote on the WHITE proxy card today FOR ALL of RMCF’s director nominees ahead of the Company’s 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the "Annual Meeting"), to be held October 6, 2021. A copy of the letter Mr. Kerzner sent to RMCF’s Board of Directors is copied below: ***** September 29, 2021 Dear RMCF: I am writing further to my extensive discussions with management of RMCF and in particular, I am writing to respond to certain statements made in a public filing made by the group of shareholders who are seeking to elect their own slate of directors (the “AB Group”) on September 17, a group that includes one of your current directors. On a page marked as though it was slide 65, there is reference to the AB Group’s intention to “Resolve Canadian Franchisee”. From my perspective, there is nothing to resolve. We settled our litigation on August 4. Is the AB Group not aware of the resolution we have reached? Our settlement provides that we will spend some time in the coming weeks and months determining if there is a way we can work together going forward. If we cannot, then I am free to go my own way, if not with your blessing, at least without any further interference from you - and vice versa. On the slide marked 61, there is discussion of the AB Group’s intention to reach a mutually beneficial agreement with me as the Canadian franchisee. I do not understand this, since I have been in extensive constructive discussions with Bryan Merryman, Frank Crail and Jeff Geygan since we settled on August 4 and thought that I was doing so with the knowledge and support of the Board of Directors of RMCF. In my mind, we have already fleshed out many of the details of what that going forward arrangement would look like. I will go further and say that I thought we had a deal. Again, is the AB Group not aware of our discussions? Or are they simply unsupportive? The fact that they have put out a report stating their intentions with respect to me and my operations that is completely inconsistent with reality is unhelpful. I realize that you are in the middle of a contest over control of the Board, and as such you are unwilling to work on our deal until after your AGM, but it is misleading to say that the work of resolving the Canadian issue or the negotiation of an arrangement with Canada has yet to be done. I have no intention of negotiating anything different than the terms that have already been discussed. Furthermore, the terms that have been discussed assume I will be dealing with the people I have been dealing with to date - it would be a mistake to assume that I will happily pivot to work with a completely different group of people after your AGM. Let me be clear: I trust and respect the people I have been talking to over the past six weeks. I say this despite the fact that they sued me in order to force a renegotiation of our deal. My relationship with Bryan goes back 20 years and with Frank longer. I understand what they are trying to do, and I believe that they understand what I have been trying to do. I also think that they realize that RMCF will be in much better shape if we can stop working against each other and take the best ideas of both country’s operations and make a bigger, stronger company. Make no mistake, this is an idea we have considered off and on for as long as I have been a franchisee of RMCF. I have appreciated what Jeff Geygan has brought to the dynamic of our relationship and I think he helped us both see how much better we could be if we worked together. On the other hand, I have not had any discussions with the AB Group. If they are successful and a majority of the Board is replaced with the nominees from their group, will they honour the settlement agreement and the plans for the future that we have been discussing? If not, I am prepared to invoke the terms of our settlement and take Canada in its own direction. I have a robust business model and am willing to go it alone if RMCF does not want to bring North American operations under one business. Similarly, if the appointment of a new board causes a complete disruption to the management team of RMCF, then I expect I would rather go my own way than join my business with a dysfunctional RMCF. I am writing to set these things out because I want to be transparent with you. I think it goes without saying, but I want to make sure you realize - the plans that we have been jointly making for the future of our two organizations are deeply personal and based on the trust and respect I have for the people involved. They are not transferable unless I am as impressed with whoever I wind up dealing with next as I have been with current management. I have seen nothing to date to give me confidence that will be the case. Sincerely,
Brian Kerzner
***** RMCF strongly urges stockholders to discard any blue proxy cards you may receive and vote on the WHITE proxy card today FOR ALL six of the highly-qualified and very experienced nominees. If you have already returned a blue proxy card, you can change your vote simply by voting by telephone, via the Internet or by signing, dating and returning a WHITE proxy card today. RMCF’s proxy statement and other important information related to the Annual Meeting can be found on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov and on the Company's website at rmcf.com/SEC-Filings.
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