NEW YORK, Oct. 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Millennium
India Acquisition Company, Inc. ("SMCG") has announced that public
efforts by SMCG shareholder Hudson Bay Partners, LP ("HBP") to
secure shareholder support for the replacement of SMCG's current
Board of Directors with a new director slate resulted in the
delivery to SMCG on October 3, 2013
of signed, written consents representing more than 50% of SMCG's
outstanding shares. Accordingly, on October 3, 2013, all five of HBP's director
nominees were appointed to the SMCG Board including the principal
of HBP, David H. Lesser, and all the
previous members of the SMCG Board of Directors were removed.
The reconfigured SMCG Board has elected Mr. Lesser to serve as
Chairman and CEO. In addition, the new Board of Directors
consisting of HBP's director nominees has determined that in
furtherance of a smooth transition from the old Board and
management to the new and continuity of company operations, it is
in the best interests of SMCG and its shareholders to appoint
F. Jacob Cherian and Suhel Kanuga to the SMCG Board of
Directors. The new Board accordingly determined to increase
the size of the Board by two and to appoint Messrs. Cherian and
Kanuga to the resulting newly created directorships.
As a result, the SMCG Board of Directors now has the following
composition:
- David H. Lesser
- Arun Mittal
- Habib Yunus
- Dionisio D'Aguilar
- Jesse Derris
- F. Jacob Cherian
- Suhel Kanuga
Mr. Cherian (former Chairman and CEO) and Mr. Kanuga (former
President and CFO) will no longer serve as officers of SMCG in any
capacity and their total combined salaries of $500,000 will cease immediately.
Mr. Lesser commented that:
"This Board reconfiguration is the first step of a new strategic
plan that seeks to increase shareholder value. The Board
reconfiguration paves the way to implement a three-point plan that
aims to benefit all SMCG shareholders. As part of the plan,
we will:
- Reduce overhead
- Perform a strategic review of SMCG's investment in SMC
Group
- Evaluate additional opportunities to expand SMCG's business to
create shareholder value
I look forward to reporting back to shareholders in the near
future with updates on this plan.
I appreciate that Mr. Cherian and Mr. Kanuga have expressed a
willingness to help effect a smooth transition and support SMCG's
efforts to realize value from SMCG's investment in SMC Group and
support the new strategic plan."
In furtherance of SMCG's new plan, Mr. Lesser has secured
agreements whereby Mr. Cherian and Mr. Kanuga release SMCG from
liability for all deferred compensation they have accrued. As
of June 31, 2013, the total amount of
this deferred compensation was reported to be $1,050,000, which translates to $0.13 per share.
SMCG has also announced that the annual meeting of shareholders
previously scheduled to take place in India on October 21,
2013 has been cancelled, and will be rescheduled and
relocated to the United
States.
About Millennium India Acquisition Company Inc. (ticker:
SMCG)
SMCG's principal asset is its ownership of a 14.03%
equity interest in SMC Global. More information regarding
Millennium India Acquisition Company Inc. can be found at
www.milcapital.com.
About SMC Global
SMC Global is a financial services
firm headquartered in New Delhi.
Its products and services include institutional and retail
brokerage, equity and commodity research, equity, commodity and
derivative arbitrage and trading, on-line trading services,
investment banking, custodial services, clearing services,
distribution of mutual funds, IPOs and insurance products, and
wealth management services. For the year ended March 31, 2012, SMC reported averaging over
325,000+ trades per day. SMC's retail investor networks serve the
needs of a reported 720,000 investors presently. Its retail
distribution footprint in India
totaled over 2,500 locations, as of June 30,
2012. Currently, SMC has approximately 3,250 employees and a
retail distribution network of more than 16,500 independent
financial advisors, in over 500 cities across India.
Cautionary Statement about Forward-Looking Statements
This document includes forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the U.S. securities laws. Forward-looking statements are
those that predict or describe future events or trends and that do
not relate solely to historical matters. You can generally identify
forward-looking statements as statements containing the words
"believe," "expect," "will," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate,"
"project," "plan," "assume", "seek" or other similar expressions,
or negatives of those expressions, although not all forward-looking
statements contain these identifying words. All statements
contained in this document regarding our future strategy, future
operations, future prospects, the future of our industries and
results that might be obtained by pursuing management's current or
future plans and objectives are forward-looking statements. You
should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements
because the matters they describe are subject to known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other unpredictable factors, many of which
are beyond our control. Our forward-looking statements are based on
the information currently available to us and speak only as of the
date of the filing of this document. Over time, our actual results,
performance, financial condition or achievements may differ from
the anticipated results, performance, financial condition or
achievements that are expressed or implied by our forward-looking
statements, and such differences may be significant and materially
adverse to our security holders.
Contact:
David H. Lesser
+1 (212) 750-0371
david@dlesser.com
SOURCE Millennium India Acquisition Company, Inc.