Campus Crest Shareholder Calls For New Leadership

by Scott Reid

New York — The Clinton Group, Inc., a stockholder of Campus Crest Communities, Inc. (NYSE: CCG), has sent notice to Campus Crest to nominate a new executive team.

A news release states: “Clinton believes that the board of Campus Crest should be held accountable for the years of underperformance and disappointing shareholder returns.”

“For far too long, stockholders have suffered under a board that has overseen significant value destruction,” said Joseph De Perio, senior portfolio manager at Clinton. “Our intention is simple – to let shareholders decide on the composition of the leadership of the company.” The nomination would take place at the 2015 annual meeting of Campus Crest stockholders. Campus Crest has received notice, and issued its own press release stating that Clinton owns approximately .8 percent of the company’s outstanding shares.

The Clinton Group release goes on to state: “With the recent resignations of Ted Rollins and Donnie Bobbit, the ex-CEO and ex-CFO, respectively, the company lacks permanent top executive leadership today.”

“Several of our nominees are qualified to be either the interim CEO or permanent CEO of the company if need be,” De Perio said. “Given the decision to move away from development activities [which was announced in November], if our candidates are elected, the newly constituted board may decide that the best way to maximize value to shareholders is to position the company for a sale to a strategic or financial buyer at a premium well in excess of prevailing stock prices. At today’s comparable companies’ FFO multiples, the implied stock price would be over $10.50 per share.” CCG’s stock price opened at $7.30 on Dec. 17, 2014. Stocks closed at $9.13 on Dec. 10, 2013.  The stock price was $8.78 on June 8, 2014.

Clinton says it plans to nominate Scott Arnold, senior portfolio manager, private equity and asset backed securities at Clinton Group; Randall Brown, former executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer of EdR; William Finelli, former global chief operating officer of the real estate platform of BlackRock Inc.; and Raymond Mikulich, managing partner and chief investment officer for Ridgeline Capital Group and former head of Apollo Global Real Estate Private Equity Investment and former co-head of real estate investments for Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

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