Business & Finance
Business and Finance
Business and Finance
Tue, July 21, 2009
Mon, July 20, 2009 Route1 Inc.: Route1 Founder and CEO to Nominate Directors to Replace the Current Board
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - July 20, 2009) - K. Andrew White, Founder, President and CEO, Director of the Board, and an owner of 8.5% of the common stock of Route1 Inc. ("Route1" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:ROI) announced today that he intends to nominate a slate of Directors to replace the existing Board of Directors at the Company's Annual General and Special Meeting, scheduled for August 19, 2009. Mr. White intends to file and distribute a circular to Route1 shareholders shortly.
Mr. White will be nominating for election at the Company's Annual General and Special Meeting a slate of Directors to be headed by Michael D. Harris to help position the Company for growth.
Mike Harris was Premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and was first elected to the Ontario Legislature in 1981 representing the northern Ontario riding of Nipissing. Currently President of his own consulting firm, Mr. Harris serves as an advisor to a leading Canadian law firm, Goodmans LLP, and several Canadian companies. Mr. Harris also serves on the boards of several public companies including Magna International Inc. (Lead Director and Chairman of the Corporate Governance and Compensation Committee), Chartwell Seniors Housing REIT (Chairman of the Board of Trustees and member of the Compensation, Governance and Nominating Committee), Canaccord Capital Inc. (Chairman of the Corporate Governance and Compensation Committee), EnGlobe Corporation (Chairman of the Board), Augen Capital Corp. (Chairman of the Board), FirstService Corporation, and ENMAX Corporation.
Mr. Harris is also a Director of the Tim Horton Children's Foundation and the Mount Royal College Foundation. He is a Senior Fellow with the Fraser Institute, a leading Canadian economic, social research and education organization.
"I believe Route1 has turned a major corner and is now poised for significant growth," stated Michael Harris. "I am excited to serve on a Board that works with a management team led by Andrew White. He has built a business in an area of world leading technology, this is exactly the kind of company that Ontario and Canada need."
Mr. White added, "I am delighted to have Mr. Harris lead Route1's board of directors. His experience in board stewardship, corporate governance, management of capital markets and growing businesses will be a valuable asset as the Company pursues its objective of transformational growth. Route1 was founded on ground breaking technology and it is this technology that has allowed us to become a leader in security and identity management network solutions. With our recently announced results, we now talk about our business model not on a basis of if and when it will translate into economic returns for our shareholders, rather how big the returns will be."
Background
Mr. White approached Ian Currie, the current Chair of the Board of the Company, in May 2009 about making significant changes to the current Board of Directors to better reflect the needs of the Company as it moves into 2010 and beyond. Specifically, Mr. White is of the strong belief that the current Board is not engaged in supporting management in the furtherance of Route1's business objectives. To date, the Board has resisted making any changes to its composition.
Based on their most recent SEDI filings, the current Board of Directors owns less than 1,977,240 common shares in the Company, which amounts to less than 1% of the common stock issued and outstanding.
"Route1 is currently handicapped by a disinterested Board of Directors that has provided minimal support to the initiatives of management. I am disappointed that the reaction of the board to my proposed changes is to seek to entrench themselves at the expense of the company," Mr. White said. "As shareholders we expect and deserve to have a Board of Directors comprised of engaged business leaders who have personally delivered transformative value to shareholders and stakeholders. We want individuals to join our board who want to work with management to deliver on the exceptional shareholder value creation opportunity that is real and present."
Note
This press release is not, and is not to be construed to be, a solicitation of proxies. Solicitation of proxies will only be made by information circular to be sent to Route1's shareholders, Route1 and Route1's auditors. The information circular will contain important detailed information about the solicitation of proxies, the upcoming shareholder meeting, the proposed slate of directors, Mr. White and Route1. Route1's shareholders should read Mr. White's information circular before making any voting decision.
Forward Looking Statements
Except for historical information provided herein, this press release may contain information and statements of a forward-looking nature concerning the future performance of Route1. These statements are based on suppositions and uncertainties as well as on the best possible evaluation of future events. As a result, readers are advised that actual results may differ from expected results.
