SQFT - Zuma Capital Management Nominates Five Highly Qualified Independent Director Candidates at Presidio Property Trust | Benzinga
Urges Immediate Action to Refresh the Board
Contends the Upcoming Annual Meeting is an Opportunity to Begin Much Needed Change at The Company
ATLANTA, March 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zuma Capital Management, LLC, which owns approximately 7.7% of the outstanding shares of the Series A Common Stock of Presidio Property Trust, Inc. (NASDAQ:SQFT) ("Presidio" or the "Company"), today issued a public letter to the Company's stockholders announcing its nomination of five highly qualified, independent candidates; Reuben Berman, Stefani Carter, Vito Garfi, Brent Morrison and Elena Piliptchak, for election to the Company's Board of Directors at the Company's 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.
Learn more about Zuma Capital Management, LLC's director candidates by visiting www.SavePresidio.com, where stockholders can download a copy of our letter and sign up for future updates on Zuma Capital Management's campaign for boardroom change.
The full text of the letter follows:
March 13, 2024
Dear Fellow Stockholders,
Zuma Capital Management, LLC (together with its affiliates and the participants named herein, "Zuma," "our" or "we"), is a significant stockholder group of Presidio Property Trust, Inc. (NASDAQ:SQFT) ("Presidio" or the "Company"), with ownership of approximately 7.7% of the Company's outstanding shares of Series A Common Stock (the "Common Stock").
Over the past six months, we have become a significant independent stockholder group of Presidio, primarily because we believe the Company's assets are worth much more than is reflected in its stock price. Our significant research into the Company has led us to believe the value disconnect derives from the CEO and Chairman of the Board Jack Heilbron's external business interests driving decision making at the Company and the Company's insular Board failing to uphold their duty to act in the best interests of stockholders.
We have attempted to engage in good faith by inquiring about the Company's business interests with Mr. Heilbron's private investment advisory firm, Centurion Counsel, Inc. ("Centurion"), which, as disclosed in Mr. Heilbron's Schedule 13D filed on March 4, 2024, apparently holds shares of Common Stock on behalf of various account holders.1 We believe the Company has not fully disclosed its business relationships and arrangements with Centurion. Rather than listening to the concerns of the Company's stockholders and engaging with us, the Board brushed us aside and effectively asked us to trust that it will do the right thing.
Our engagement with the Company convinced us that significant change was needed to execute a turnaround so we nominated a slate of highly qualified directors for election to the Board. Again, rather than engage with us and in an act of entrenchment and fear, the Board responded to our nomination by approving long-term employment contracts for the Company's executive team, including Mr. Heilbron. We believe the compensation terms of these agreements are egregious given the Company's chronic underperformance.
We believe the Board's recent approval of various long-term employment contracts with the Company's executives in response to legitimate stockholder feedback is just the latest in a series of unfortunate examples of the Board choosing to entrench its leadership rather than seeking to take the necessary steps to improve as a Company. We do not believe it is possible to justify the Board's actions given the Company's share price underperformance, evidenced by its Total Shareholder Return ("TSR") of –24.09%2 since taking its Common Stock public and its three year TSR of -23.00%.3
Our view is that the Board's actions reflect poor corporate governance and undermine your rights as stockholders. We believe the Company should let stockholders decide who they want to lead to the Company rather than permitting executives to ...