Proxy battle taking shape at iPass
IPass, the Redwood City developer of business-mobility software that has been struggling with disgruntled investors for more than a year, now has a proxy battle on its hands with a proposal to declassify the iPass board being made by by its third largest shareholder, Foxhill Master Fund, which wants each director to stand for election every year, rather than serving staggered three-year terms.
Foxhill is also putting forward at least three nominees of its own for election to the iPass board, according to a filing the investor made Wednesday.
Last year iPass’s largest shareholder, Shamrock Capital, urged the company to sell itself, a process the company decided to explore after adding a Shamrock representative to its board by hiring an investment firm in June to help it review “strategic alternatives.” The board ultimately decide unanimously “to continue to focus on a stand-alone strategy as it strives to maximize shareholder value.”
The company has since hired a new chief executive and last month announced plans to slash 13 percent of its workforce, or about 70 employees, “to free up resources.”
