On April 6, 2020, Bow Street LLC issued the following press release and letter:
BOW STREET RELEASES PREVIOUSLY SENT LETTER TO MACK-CALI
LEAD INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR TO REFUTE MACK-CALI’S FALSE CLAIMS
NEW YORK–April 6, 2020 – Bow Street LLC (“Bow Street”) today released a letter sent on March 27, 2020 to Mack-Cali Realty Corporation (“Mack-Cali” or the “Company”) (NYSE: CLI) Lead Independent Director Alan Bernikow. In this letter, Bow Street explicitly asked Mack-Cali to include independent directors Alan Batkin, Frederic Cumenal, MaryAnne Gilmartin and Nori Gerardo Lietz (the “2019 Elected Directors”) on the Company’s 2020 proxy card and offered to remove these directors from Bow Street’s 2020 slate. This offer was flatly rejected by the Company in a press release dated March 30, 2020.
Akiva Katz and Howard Shainker, Managing Partners of Bow Street said, “We are releasing this letter today because shareholders deserve to know the truth. As documented by the letter we sent Mr. Bernikow, our only intention is to ensure that the 2019 Elected Directors be fairly re-nominated. To be clear, the 2019 Elected Directors are all independent-minded, independent of Bow Street and have long, distinguished careers serving as strong fiduciaries and shareholder advocates. From our perspective, the proxy card on which they appear is a mere formality.
“Given the chicanery displayed by Mack-Cali the morning of last year’s Annual Meeting – when it forced four directors off of its Board to ensure that Chairman William Mack retained his board seat (in stark contrast to shareholders’ demands as illustrated by his 15% vote total) – our intention was to prevent such deceitful gamesmanship from occurring once again.”
The full text of the letter is attached and below.
Alan S. Bernikow
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
Mack-Cali Realty Corporation
Harborside 3
210 Hudson Street, Suite 400
Jersey City, NJ 07311
March 27, 2020
Alan:
I hope you and your family remain safe and well. Thanks for taking the time to speak with me last week – I very much hope we can find a way to work together. With respect to the concerns you expressed to me regarding the presence of current Company directors on the Bow Street slate, we would like to make a proposal that should accommodate everyone’s issues:
We understand that the Nominating and Governance Committee of Mack-Cali Realty Corporation (the “Company”) may be reluctant to include the four Bow Street nominees that were elected as Company directors at the Company’s 2019 Annual Meeting – Alan R. Batkin, Frederic Cumenal, MaryAnne Gilmartin and Nori Gerardo Lietz (“2019 Elected Directors”) – on the Company’s proxy card for the Company’s 2020 Annual Meeting, because the 2019 Elected Directors have already agreed to be included on Bow Street’s proxy card for the 2020 Annual Meeting. As you know, the Company’s bylaws required Bow Street to name its nominees for the 2020 Annual Meeting prior to the time that the Company was required to name its nominees, and accordingly Bow Street requested the 2019 Elected Directors to consent to being named in Bow Street’s proxy statement for the Company’s 2020 Annual Meeting, and nominated them in accordance with the Company’s bylaws, to ensure that they would be able to stand for re-election to the board.
The 2019 Elected Directors had the overwhelming support of the Company’s stockholders at the 2019 Annual Meeting, and we expect will have overwhelming support at the Company’s 2020 Annual Meeting. While we are comfortable with these directors appearing on both slates – that of Mack-Cali and Bow Street – we are also willing to accommodate any concerns in this regard. To be clear, our singular goal is to ensure that the 2019 Elected Directors be permitted to continue the work they have started on behalf of all of the Company’s stockholders. From our perspective (and that of shareholders), the proxy card on which they appear is a mere formality.