Ingles Markets is intensifying its efforts to convince shareholders to reject a candidate for its board nominated by a firm linked to the opioid epidemic.
In a presentation released on Wednesday, Ingles said it believes that the nominee, Rory Held, chief investment officer of Summer Road LLC, and the investment firm itself are “hiding material information from shareholders.” Ingles said that information includes Summer Road’s connection with the Sackler family — the former owners of opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma — and contends that electing Held to the grocer’s board would “lead to value destruction.”
“The Summer Road/Sackler connection was disclosed by Ingles because it is a fact that is material to shareholders and their investment decisions — you should know who is claiming to represent you and the risks they create,” Ingles said.
Ingles has urged shareholders not to vote for Held during the grocer’s annual meeting on April 30.
Ingles also said Wednesday it is concerned that the company would face a boycott if Held were elected as a director. Ingles said it came to that conclusion because a ski resort operator in which the Sacklers were formerly investors faced the threat of a boycott.
In another presentation, released on Friday, Ingles criticized Summer Road’s investment in the company, Peak Resorts, contending that the Sackler family received “preferential treatment … at the expense of other Peak Resorts shareholders.”
On Monday, Ingles, which runs about 200 supermarkets in six Southeastern states, put out a shareholder letter to reiterate its concerns about Held and ask shareholders to support Dwight Jacobs, a former Duke Energy senior executive, and Rebekah Lowe, a former regional bank president.
On Friday, Summer Road issued a statement claiming that Ingles had previously told it that it would “seek to distract from the merits of our campaign by attacking the Sackler family — which is exactly what it has done with its misleading, inaccurate and inflammatory assertions.” The investment firm added that Held would bring independent representation to the company.
“Instead of addressing investors’ concerns about its anemic growth, ambiguous corporate strategy, lack of shareholder engagement and Board oversight shortcomings, the Company is seeking to distract attention from these legitimate issues by fearmongering about our intentions,” Summer Road said.
Summer Road also said that Ingles is “hiding information from its owners [because it] stopped holding quarterly earnings calls in 2016, discloses the least amount of information of its peers and doesn’t report the accurate picture of its real estate holdings.”
Summer Road added in its statement that “Summer Road and Mr. Held were good for Peak Resorts … its communities and its stakeholders. We expect the same for Ingles.”
