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WALL STREET WEST
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Coffee Grind
Farmer Bros. Co. named Roy E. Farmer, 50, as its chief executive, taking
over from his father, 86-year-old Roy F. Farmer, who will remain chairman.
The younger Farmer, who was president and chief operating officer, also
inherits a fight with a group of dissident shareholders that has been
prodding the company to loosen its grip on a large cash hoard.
The Torrance-based company won a December shareholder vote that would have
re-classified it as an investment company under the Investment Company Act
of 1940. In the latest skirmish, the dissidents have been citing a
California state law in requesting the release of more detailed financial
information than the company already places in its Securities and Exchange
Commission filings. Farmers has shared some of the information with its
largest institutional shareholder, Franklin Mutual Advisers Inc. of Short
Hills, N.J., but required the firm to sign a confidentiality agreement.
The dissidents designated a shareholder to ask for the same information,
with no restrictions – and preferably in an SEC filing. Last week, the
company indicated that it would accede, although it didn’t say to what
degree.
“We are confident the financial reports we regularly release to the public,
which far exceed SEC and (Financial Accounting Standards Board)
requirements, are transparent and clearly refelect our relatively
straightforward, 91-year-old business,” the company said in a prepared
statement.
“Although the need for this information is unclear, we will provide
information to this investor,” it said.
– Anthony Palazzo
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