Intends to Retain Dye & Durham’s Highly
Skilled Employees and Instill a Winning Culture of Transparency,
Accountability and Focus
Visit www.LetsFixDND.com to Learn How to Vote
on the BLUE Proxy Card “FOR” ALL SIX of Engine’s Directors and
“WITHHOLD” on ALL of the Incumbent Directors
Engine Capital LP (together with its affiliates, "Engine" or
"we"), which owns approximately 7.1% of the issued and outstanding
common shares of Dye & Durham Limited (TSX: DND) ("Dye &
Durham" or the "Company"), today issued an open letter to Dye &
Durham employees from its slate of directors expressing their
enthusiasm for bringing stability to the Company and improving the
culture for the benefit of all its stakeholders.
Engine is seeking to elect six highly qualified and independent
candidates to Dye & Durham’s seven-member Board of Directors
(the “Board”) at the 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held
on December 17, 2024. While the Board seems intent on issuing
slanderous and misleading communications regarding Engine’s
intentions, we prefer to focus on the merits of our value
creation plan, the wide-ranging experience of our director
candidates and the superior path forward for Dye &
Durham.
***
Dear Dye & Durham Employees,
First, we would like to thank each of you for your service to
Dye & Durham. Over the last several months, we have had the
opportunity to speak with current and former employees and have
been impressed with your breadth of knowledge and belief in Dye
& Durham’s potential. We have also heard directly from you
about your significant concerns with the Company’s high turnover
and unsatisfactory work environment. We are troubled by the deluge
of negative employee ratings we have seen online, including reports
of “archaic” leadership practices, a “toxic” culture, the Company’s
constantly changing strategic direction and its disregard for
employee wellbeing from the very top.1
Engine has invested significant capital in Dye & Durham and
today owns 7.1% of the Company’s shares, making it one of the
Company’s largest shareholders. Engine nominated us as director
candidates based on its belief that Dye & Durham is an
incredibly valuable business that is currently being mismanaged by
outgoing CEO Matt Proud. We want to change the culture at Dye &
Durham for the better. We hope you will not
be misled by the Company’s falsehoods that we are planning layoffs
at Dye & Durham, particularly among the senior executive team.
This is simply not the case. Our issues lie not with you,
but solely with the leadership of the current Board, which has
recently resorted to low-blow attacks against Engine.2 We have
overseen many business turnarounds and successful CEO transitions,
so we know the retention of institutional knowledge throughout the
organization is essential – especially during a CEO transition
period.
Since we haven’t had the opportunity to meet each of you yet, we
encourage you to visit www.LetsFixDND.com/Director-Candidates to
read more about our backgrounds and get in touch if you’re
interested in speaking directly. We are senior executives from some
of the most successful software and fintech companies in Canada and
the U.S., so we understand what it takes to establish a winning
culture and deliver strong performance. We have backgrounds in
legal technology, software operations, corporate governance,
business transformation, CEO succession planning and capital
allocation. Drawing on our experience from organizations like
Constellation Software, Shopify, Thomson Reuters, LexisNexis,
Equifax and Global Payments, we are excited to bring financial
discipline, next-level customer insights, a clear understanding of
the customer experience and track records of successful product
integration to Dye & Durham.
In terms of what we plan to deliver if
elected: recruit a world-class CEO who values transparency
and ensures you have the business performance information you need
to do your jobs well. We are focused on promoting a culture that
prizes a winning strategy, employee welfare, superior products and
stellar customer service. If we are elected, our goal will be to
regain your trust and confidence. We will retain Dye & Durham’s
highly skilled employees and ensure you are compensated such that
when the Company succeeds, you too will reap the rewards.
For these reasons, we believe employees, customers and
shareholders will all benefit from having our perspectives in the
boardroom. Please know that if you own Dye
& Durham stock, your vote in the upcoming election is extremely
important and completely confidential. This means you can vote for
whoever you believe is best suited to lead the Company, without
fear of retaliation from current leadership.
We thank you for your commitment to Dye & Durham and look
forward to working alongside you. We will continue to advocate for
your interests and keep you apprised of our efforts.
You can visit www.LetsFixDND.com to learn how to vote for our
full slate on the BLUE proxy
card. You can also contact our proxy solicitor by calling
1-888-777-2094 or emailing assistance@sodali.com. Your
conversations will be kept completely confidential.
Sincerely,
Arnaud Ajdler
Hans T. Gieskes
Tracey E. Keates
Ritu Khanna
Anthony P. Kinnear
Sid Singh
The Engine Capital Slate
***
Additional information is available in Engine’s
recently filed Information Circular and presentation, both of which
can be found on SEDAR+ under Dye & Durham’s profile at
www.sedarplus.ca and on the website, www.LetsFixDND.com.
Disclaimer for Forward-Looking
Information
Statements contained herein that are not historical facts
constitute “forward-looking statements” and “forward-looking
information” (together, “forward-looking statements”) within the
meaning of applicable securities laws that reflect Engine’s current
expectations, assumptions, and estimates of future events,
performance and economic conditions. Such forward-looking
statements rely on the safe harbor provisions of applicable
securities laws. Because such statements are subject to risks and
uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and there
can be no assurance that the Company’s securities will trade at the
prices that may be implied herein, and there can be no assurance
that any opinion or assumption herein is, or will be proven,
correct. Words and phrases such as “anticipate,” “believe,”
“create,” “drive,” “expect,” “forecast,” “future,” “growth,”
“intend,” “hope,” “opportunity,” “plan,” “confident,” “restore,”
“reduce,” “potential,” “proposal,” “unlock,” “upside,” “will,”
“would,” and similar words and phrases are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements may
include, but are not limited to, statements concerning: the
anticipated financial and operating performance of Dye &
Durham; anticipated changes to Dye & Durham’s debt levels and
financial ratios; the outcome of the Annual Meeting; the release of
a transition plan and go-forward strategy; anticipated EBITDA; and
achieving organic growth, free cash flow generation and leverage
reduction. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of
future performance or actual results, and readers should not place
undue reliance on any forward-looking statement as actual results
may differ materially and adversely from forward-looking
statements. All forward-looking statements contained herein are
made only as of the date hereof, and Engine disclaims any intention
or obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking
statements to reflect events or circumstances that subsequently
occur, or of which Engine hereafter becomes aware, except as
required by applicable law.
Non-IFRS Measures
This press release makes reference to certain non-IFRS financial
measures. These measures are not recognized measures under IFRS, do
not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and may not be
comparable to similar measures presented by other companies.
Rather, these measures are provided as additional information to
complement IFRS financial measures by providing further
understanding of the Company’s results of operations from the
Company’s perspective as disclosed by the Company in its public
disclosure, including in the Company’s Management Circular. The
Company’s definitions of non-IFRS measures may not be the same as
the definitions for such measures used by other companies or
investors in their reporting. Non-IFRS measures have limitations as
analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation nor as a
substitute for analysis of the Company’s financial information
reported under IFRS. The Company discloses that it uses non-IFRS
financial measures, including “EBITDA” and “Leveraged Free Cash
Flow”, to provide investors with supplemental measures of the
Company’s operating performance and to eliminate items that have
less bearing on operating performance or operating conditions and
thus highlight trends in the Company’s core business that may not
otherwise be apparent when relying solely on IFRS financial
measures. Engine believes that securities analysts, investors and
other interested parties frequently use non-IFRS financial measures
in the evaluation of issuers such as the Company. The Company also
discloses that it uses non-IFRS financial measures in order to
facilitate operating performance comparisons from period to period.
Please see “Cautionary Note Regarding Non-IFRS Measures” and
“Select Information and Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Measures” in the
Company’s most recent Management’s Discussion and Analysis, which
is available on the Company’s profile on SEDAR+ at
www.sedarplus.ca, for further details on these non-IFRS measures,
including (i) definitions of each non-IFRS measure and an
explanation of the composition of each non-IFRS financial measure,
and (ii) relevant reconciliations of each non-IFRS measure to its
most directly comparable IFRS measure, which information is
incorporated by reference herein. Engine believes that its
disclosure of non-IFRS measures in this press release is consistent
with the use of such measures by the Company.
About Engine Capital
Engine Capital LP is a value-oriented special situations fund
that invests both actively and passively in companies undergoing
change.
_________________________ 1 Publicly available reviews on
Glassdoor. 2 Dye & Durham falsely claimed in its December 4
press release that Arnaud Ajdler “was boasting about walking
multiple executives out of the building the day after he won.” Mr.
Ajdler has never said this and is disappointed the Company is
resorting to spreading falsehoods about Engine and its director
candidates.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241204287309/en/
For Investors: Engine Capital LP 212-321-0048
info@enginecap.com
Sodali & Co. North American Toll-Free Number: 1-888-777-2094
Outside North America (collect calls accepted): 1-289-695-3075
assistance@sodali.com
For Media: Longacre Square Partners Charlotte Kiaie /
Bela Kirpalani, 646-386-0091 engine-DND@longacresquare.com
Dye and Durham (TSX:DND)
Historical Stock Chart
From Nov 2024 to Dec 2024
Dye and Durham (TSX:DND)
Historical Stock Chart
From Dec 2023 to Dec 2024