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Protest Vote Recommended
Against Farmer Bros.
United States – Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has called on shareholders to vote against the re-election of Farmer Bros. (FARM) Chairman Roy F. Farmer, his son and company President Roy E. Farmer, and vice president of production Guenter Berger to the firm’s board. While many shareholders have cried foul that Farmer Bros. has scheduled its annual meeting for December 26, the day after Christmas (see News Briefs, 12/04/2002), ISS is against the three directors because it said the board has failed to appoint an independent nominating committee. ISS said it has no expectations of actually ousting the three directors, especially considering there is no alternative slate of directors and that management has voting rights to over 52% of the company’s stock, but maintains that a strong protest vote would send a powerful message to management. Another shareholder advisory service, Investor Responsibility Research Center (IRRC), has recently criticized Farmer Bros., claiming that only one of its six board members – John Merrell – meets reasonable standards of being independent. Los Angeles Times, December 16, 2002
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Chris Grimmett, General Editor COPYRIGHT 1999-2001
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