ISS / RiskMetrics Group Recommends Voting the GOLD Proxy Card
ISS / RiskMetrics Group recommends not voting for any of the current ITEX directors
CRANFORD, N.J., Nov. 29, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The Committee to Enhance ITEX (OTC Bulletin Board: ITEX) (the "Committee") today announced that ISS / RiskMetrics Group, the nation's leading proxy advisory firm, has recommended that shareholders of ITEX Corporation vote on the Committee's GOLD proxy card to elect Alnesh Mohan to the Board of Directors of ITEX and not vote Management's proxy at the annual meeting of shareholders scheduled to be held on December 10, 2010. The Committee urges all shareholders to vote the GOLD proxy card to elect all three of its nominees – Wayne Jones, Sidd Pagidipati and Alnesh Mohan -- by telephone, Internet or by signing, dating and returning the GOLD proxy card today.
ISS / RiskMetrics performed a detailed analysis of both sides' positions with respect to the election contest. ISS / RiskMetrics expressed concerns shared by the Committee with respect to ITEX's corporate governance and recommended shareholders WITHHOLD for one or all of the incumbent nominees for problematic governance practices.
Specifically, ISS / RiskMetrics stated:
- "In February 2008, the company entered into a single-trigger 'change of control agreement' with Steven White, Chairman and CEO of the company. Change-in-control payments without termination arrangements are known as single-trigger agreements." "ISS found the practice discussed here, the single- trigger change-in-control arrangement, to be problematic and recommended that shareholders withhold votes from the incumbent Compensation Committee members which included Mr. Wade and Mr. Best." Mr. Wade and Mr. Best are two of ITEX's three current directors.
- "During fiscal 2010 the company retained Mr. Wade as a consultant to assist with internal audit matters. As a result, Mr. Wade currently neither meets ISS nor NASDAQ Marketplace independence standards for audit committee members."
- "Mr. Mohan's extensive accounting experience and his background in dealing with public companies would be helpful..(as) ITEX has suffered from several accounting related problems."
David Polonitza, Chairman of the Committee, stated, "We are pleased that ISS / RiskMetrics recognizes ITEX's governance issues and that it supports our call for change on the Board. We believe the need for positive change at ITEX is clear, and support from ISS / RiskMetrics, the nation's leading proxy advisory firm, is an important step in achieving this. However, it is imperative that shareholders vote for all three of our independent and highly-qualified nominees – Wayne Jones, Sidd Pagidipati and Alnesh Mohan -- to help ensure that our plan to maximize shareholder value is implemented."
Contact: John Grau |
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InvestorCom, Inc. |
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(203) 972-9300 |
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Or |
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David Polonitza |
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(502) 460-3141 |
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SOURCE The Committee to Enhance ITEX
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