Posted on January 3, 2017
The Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (“Great Lakes”) (NASDAQ:GLDD), the largest provider of dredging services in the United States and a major provider of environmental and remediation services, announced today that Ryan Levenson has been appointed to the Board of Directors, effective December 27, 2016. Mr. Levenson has also been appointed to the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Concurrent with the 2017 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, the size of the class of directors of the Board with a term expiring at such meeting shall automatically decrease from three to two members. In addition, subject to certain exceptions, Great Lakes has agreed to include Mr. Levenson on the Company’s slate of nominees for the election of directors at the 2017 Annual Meeting. The Company has also agreed to use its reasonable best efforts to appoint a new independent director within the next six months.
Mr. Levenson’s appointment is part of a settlement and standstill agreement that Great Lakes entered into on December 27, 2016 with Privet Fund Management LLC and Privet Fund LP (collectively, “Privet”), the beneficial owner of 5.2% of Great Lakes’ outstanding shares. In addition to providing for Mr. Levenson’s appointment to the Board, pursuant to the agreement Privet has also agreed to customary standstill provisions and to vote in favor of any Board nominees and against any Board nominees not nominated by the Board during the term of the standstill obligations. The complete agreement with Privet will be filed on a Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Chairman of the Board Michael J. Walsh commented, “Over the last several months, we have engaged in constructive dialogue with Privet regarding delivering long-term shareholder value for the Company, and we are pleased to welcome Ryan to the Board. I am confident that as a Board member, he will work effectively with the other Directors and senior management and will have a meaningful impact in helping achieve our mutual goal of driving value for all shareholders.”
Mr. Levenson said, “I am pleased that we were able to work successfully with the Board to set the path for Board invigoration that we firmly believe is in the best interests of all Great Lakes shareholders. I look forward to serving as the voice for shareholders and working constructively with my fellow Board members and the management team at Great Lakes to deliver value for shareholders.”
Source: Environmental XPRT
