| • | | “Mr. Thomas also has nearly two decades working in banking where he held various capital markets roles, which we believe makes him well suited to help the Pitney board formulate and implement debt management strategies.” |
However, we strongly disagree with certain aspects of Glass Lewis’ voting recommendation and characterization of our Board as “interlocked”. In fact, Mr. Lautenbach, Mr. Dutkowsky, and Ms. Sanford worked at IBM, an organization with around 450,000 employees at the time, decades ago, and neither did they work together, nor did they report to one another. Pitney Bowes has always sought a proper balance of directors with institutional and industry knowledge, as well as newer voices with fresh viewpoints of the Company. Our refreshment program began in 2018 – not 2023 – and the significant changes we have made since then reflect our commitment to have a balanced mix of experience, skills, leadership expertise, and new perspectives on our Board. We firmly believe that Hestia’s campaign created false and misleading narratives regarding our Board while seriously exaggerating the relevant experience of its nominees.
Furthermore, as we have stated in previous communications, we are not satisfied with our TSR, either. That said, Hestia’s calculations of TSR create a misleading understanding of our peer group, which we are pleased Glass Lewis commented on saying3, “…the Dissident bases its relative performance analysis solely on other logistics companies, including industry behemoths FedEx and UPS, which we admit are not particularly comparable to Pitney given their differences in scale and business lines.” While the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions, and China lock-down have set us back, Pitney Bowes strategic transformation is nearly complete, and we firmly believe our shareholders will benefit from the necessary, long-term investments we have made over the past decade.
VOTE THE GOLD PROXY CARD TODAY FOR ALL PITNEY BOWES’ RECOMMENDED DIRECTOR NOMINEES
The Board urges all shareholders to vote “FOR” all the nominees recommended by the Pitney Bowes Board (all eight Company nominees and the recommended Hestia nominee, Katie May) on the GOLD proxy card today. All Pitney Bowes shareholders of record as of the close of business on March 10, 2023 are entitled to vote in connection with the Annual Meeting. Please vote using one of the following methods:
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Vote Online | | Vote by Mail |
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Go to the website identified on the enclosed GOLD proxy card or voting instruction form. | | If you received your Annual Meeting material by mail, you also may choose to grant your proxy by completing, signing, dating, and returning the enclosed GOLD proxy card. |
For more information about the 2023 Annual Meeting, please visit: www.VoteforPitneyBowes.com. Shareholders who have any questions or need assistance voting may contact the Company’s proxy solicitor, Morrow Sodali LLC, toll-free at 1 (800) 662-5200.
3 | Permission to use quotations neither sought nor obtained. |