(1) |
Title
of each class of securities to which transaction applies:
|
(2) |
Aggregate
number of securities to which transaction applies:
|
(3) |
Per
unit price or other underlying value of transaction computed pursuant
to
Exchange Act Rule 0-11 (set forth the amount on which the filing
fee is
calculated and state how it was
determined):
|
(4) |
Proposed
maximum aggregate value of transaction:
|
(5) |
Total
fee paid:
|
(1) |
Amount
Previously Paid:
|
(2) |
Form,
Schedule or Registration Statement
No.:
|
(3) |
Filing
Party:
|
(4) |
Date
Filed:
|
· |
Continuing
lackluster operating performance
|
· |
An
opportunistic, if not illusory, offer for the
Company
|
· |
Serial
misuse of corporate assets
|
· |
A
40% shareholder who could gain absolute control through his exclusive
exemption from the poison pill, and
|
· |
Unnecessary
dilution from sizeable stock option grants to Mr. Vinod Gupta - moving
him
closer to absolute control.
|
•
|
First
Boston initiated coverage on July 8, 2004 with a Neutral
Rating
|
– |
$10.36
Stock Price
|
– |
$11
Price Target
|
•
|
On
April 24, 2006 First Boston has an
underweight
|
– |
$12.10
Stock Price
|
– |
$10
Price Target
|
•
|
May
5, 2006 -- stock price of $11.15
|
April
21, 2006
|
Reports
$0.15 EPS, missing 1st
quarter 2006 analyst consensus estimate of $0.175. Although
organic
revenue turned positive, 4.3% for the quarter, after being
“flat” for 2005
and down 5% for the nine months ended September 30, 2005, Stephens
&
Co. Inc. analyst alarmed about rising attrition rates to 18%
versus 10%
for the prior quarter.
|
|
June
8, 2005
|
Cuts
2005 guidance, citing weakness in its Donnelly Marketing unit
and the
Small Business Group.
|
|
Revenue
EBITDA
EPS
|
$370-380mm,
from $390-400mm
$92-96mm,
from $98-102mm
$0.59-0.63,
from $0.63-0.67
|
|
July
19, 2004
|
Cuts
EPS guidance from $0.60 to $0.28 -0.32 caused by changes in
subscription
accounting, OneSource deferred revenue, other acquisition expenses
and
severance charges. “EPS for the core business is unchanged, but may be
difficult to reconcile given the number of moving and intertwining
parts.”
- CS First Boston analyst, July 21, 2004.
|
|
January
15, 2004
|
Cuts
2004 guidance by issuing lower 2004 numbers than September
15, 2003
estimates. No mention of downward revision.
|
|
Revenue
EPS
|
$325mm,
from $338mm
$0.60,
from $0.69
|
|
Sept
15, 2003
|
Cuts
2003 guidance, citing weakness in its e-mail acquisition business
and in
its Polk City Directory Division.
|
|
Revenue
EPS
|
$310mm,
from $320mm
$0.53,
from $0.61 (ex-special charges)
|
January
1, 2001
|
Cuts
fourth quarter 2000 guidance,
citing
broad-based slowdown in customer demand for its database products
and
database processing services.
|
|
Revenue
|
$68-70mm,
from $74-76mm
|
· |
Raj
Das - Former CFO - Relegated to “strategic
planning”
|
o
|
September
2003 to February 2006.
|
· |
Stormy
Dean - Former (and current) CFO - “Resigned” and
Returned
|
o
|
2000
to 2003; February 2006 Returned as
CFO
|
· |
Ray
Butkus - Former President of Donnelley Marketing -
“Resigned”
|
o
|
December
2002 to September 2005
|
· |
Michael
Shultz - Former Corporate Controller - No
explanation
|
o
|
April
2004 to March 2005
|
· |
Al
Ambrosino - Former President of Donnelley Marketing -
Transferred
|
o
|
2000
to March 2003
|
· |
Michael
Morreale - Former COO of Donnelley Marketing -
“Resigned”
|
o
|
July
1999 to January 2003
|
· |
William
Kerrey - Former President of Database Licensing -
“Resigned”
|
o
|
1999
to June 2002
|
· |
William
Chasse - Former President and CEO of infousa.com -
“Resigned”
|
o
|
April
1999 to January 2001
|
· |
Susan
Henricks - Former President of Donnelley Marketing -
“Resigned”
|
o |
August
1999 to September 2000
|
· |
Scott
Dahnke - Former CEO - “Ceased
employment”
|
o |
October
1997 to late 1998
|
· |
Rick
Puckett - Former Controller - “Ceased
employment”
|
o |
October
1997 to late 1998
|
· |
Gregory
Back - Former EVP of Corporate Planning & Business Development -
“Ceased employment”
|
o |
October
1997 to late 1998
|
· |
Kevin
Hall - Former SVP of Special Projects - “Ceased
employment”
|
o |
October
1997 to late 1998
|
· |
Steve
Purcell - Former CFO - “Ceased
employment”
|
o |
April
1997 to late 1998
|
· |
Jon
Wellman - Former President and COO - “Ceased
employment”
|
o |
January
1995 to January 1997
|
· |
“infoUSA
has historically sold at a discount… because of the presence of a
controlling shareholder, the uneven financial performance and
history of
not meeting the expectations set by the
CEO.”
|
· |
“IUSA
is having [difficulty] with growth of its Donnelley Marketing
segment when
its peers (Acxiom, D&B Harte-Hanks and Equifax in particular) have
been able to post solid growth in their US-based direct marketing
segments… There are a few potential culprits [InfoUSA] intend to address
including poor sales execution and/or poor
leadership.”
|
· |
“IUSA
has historically emphasized the quality of data in its sales
efforts,
which could be losing to more tech savvy offerings from
Acxiom.’
|
· |
“We’re
not happy. It doesn’t feel right, it doesn’t smell right. We’ve got more
work to do on the facts, but we’re willing to get very aggressive in
addressing this situation if we find out that the facts warrant
it.”
|
· |
Three
months
after publicly stating that IUSA was worth more than $18 per
share, and
just
five days
after lowering earning estimates (knocking 20% off the stock
price), Mr.
Vinod Gupta offered to acquire all the unaffiliated shares
at $11.75 per
share.
|
· |
Mr.
Vinod Gupta stated that “he does not intend to vote in favor of any other
change in control transaction of the
Company.”
|
· |
The
full Board broadly established a Special Committee of “disinterested”
directors. The Board resolution establishing the Committee
empowered the
Committee to “solicit,
negotiate, approve or reject alternate
proposals.”
|
· |
The
Committee, which retained Lazard Freres and Fried Frank, unanimously
determined that Mr. Vinod Gupta’s offer undervalued the Company and would
require a “market check”. Mr. Vinod Gupta then withdrew his offer. The
Committee publicly stated“it
is in the best interests of the company’s stockholders to continue to
explore potential strategic alternatives.”
The next day the full Board in a non-unanimous vote terminated
the
Committee. Directors Vinod Gupta, George Haddix, Harold Andersen,
Dennis
Walker and Elliott Kaplan voted to terminate the Committee.
Each of these
Directors have conflicts or have ties to Vinod Gupta. Director
Raval
abstained. Directors Stryker, Anshoo Gupta and Kahn voted against
termination of the Committee.
|
· |
On
September 7, 2005 , Mr. Gupta wrote in a letter to the
Board:
|
· |
Mr.
Vinod Gupta and his affiliates are the only
shareholders
exempt from the poison pill.
|
· |
The
Board minutes concerning adoption of the poison pill contain
no
indication
that the Board discussed Mr. Gupta’s exemption from the poison
pill.*
|
· |
Mr.
Vinod Gupta is the one shareholder the poison pill should apply
to given
his recent opportunistic offer, as well as share purchases
and option
exercises.
|
· |
As
the result of this exemption, Mr. Vinod Gupta was permitted
to increase
his total direct ownership to 40%.
|
· |
Given
Mr. Vinod Gupta’s history and the full Board’s failure to rein him in, how
will unaffiliated shareholders fare if Mr. Vinod Gupta’s ownership moves
from extremely substantial influence to absolute
control?
|
· |
Mr.
Vinod Gupta and his affiliates have engaged in substantial
related party
transactions since 1998 and IUSA has also made direct and other
payments
related to the assets underlying these related party
transactions:
|
· |
In
a May 4, 2005 letter to shareholders, Mr. Vinod Gupta stated
that “In
fact, all of infoUSA’s
past related party transactions were fully and properly disclosed
in the
Company’s filings.”
|
· |
The
purported “in
depth” investigation into related party transactions conducted by
Dr.
Raval:
|
· |
The
Board’s apparent “fix” for these related-party transactions was simply to
spend an additional $11 million of shareholder funds to acquire real
property, the interests in private jets, the 80 foot American
Princess
yacht, a skybox, and luxury cars so that Mr. Vinod Gupta could
continue to
operate in the manner to which he had become accustomed --
without having
to report any of it publicly.
|
· |
The
Board has granted Mr. Vinod Gupta 3.2 million options (6%)
since
1998:
|
Director
|
Ties
To Mr. Vinod Gupta
|
Current
Employment
|
Relevant
Experience
|
Vinod
K. Gupta*
|
YES
|
infoUSA
CEO
|
YES
|
Bill
L. Fairfield
|
YES
--
former IUSA employee; formerly Director of Sitel with Vinod
Gupta and
presently Trustee of Nebraska Foundation with Vinod Gupta.
|
Venture
capital, footwear retailer, outsourced customer support
|
???
|
Anshoo
S. Gupta
|
NO
|
Management
consulting; financial, marketing positions at Xerox
|
NO
|
Dr.
George F. Haddix *
|
YES
--
Co-founder, former CEO and Director of CSG Systems, which IUSA
invested
in; Director of Creighton University.
|
CEO
computer software company
|
NO
|
Martin
F. Kahn
|
NO
|
Former
CEO of OneSource (acquired by IUSA)
|
YES
|
Elliott
S. Kaplan*
|
YES
--
His law firm is IUSA’s outside counsel.
|
Lawyer
|
NO
|
Dr.
Vasant H. Raval*
|
YES
-- Chairs
Dept. of Acct. at Creighton U., Vinod Gupta School of Mgt at
IIT has
exchange program with Creighton.
|
Professor
of accounting
|
NO
|
Director
|
Ties
To Mr. Vinod Gupta
|
Current
Employment
|
Relevant
Experience
|
Bernard
W. Reznicek
|
YES
--
serves on board of CSG Systems, in which IUSA invested; Former
Dean of
Bus. Admin. at Creighton U., Vinod Gupta School of Mgt at IIT
has exchange
program with Creighton.
|
CEO
of real estate investment company
|
NO
|
Dennis
P. Walker*
|
YES
--
President and CEO of Jet Linx Aviation, had free office space
along with
Everest, in infoUSA
building.
|
CEO
of jet fractional interest company
|
NO
|
Directors
Who Resigned Recently
|
|||
Harold
W. Andersen*
|
YES
--
Trustee with Vinod Gupta in Everest Funds; had free office
space from
IUSA; IUSA invested in Everest 3
Fund in 2001.
|
Former
newspaper publisher
|
NO
|
Dr.
Charles W. Stryker
|
YES
-
Formerly Chairman and CEO of Naviant, Inc. IUSA signed $12mm
licensing
agreement with Naviant in 2001.
|
Founder
of company that develops databases
|
YES
|
August
|
31
|
Dolphin
sends letter to non-management Directors, outlining issues,
urging them
“to put their own house in order.”
|
September
|
1
and 7
|
Dolphin
receives assurances from Directors Kahn and Anshoo Gupta that
the issues
Dolphin raised would be addressed.
|
19
|
Dolphin
makes books and records request.
|
|
October
|
7
|
Counsel
for Dolphin sends letter to infoUSA’s
counsel protesting Company’s failure to comply with books and records
request.
|
17
|
Dolphin
sends letter to non-management Directors urging Board again
to take
corrective measures.
|
|
20
and 21
|
Board
holds two-day meeting. Minutes
of this meeting do not reflect discussion of any other matter
Dolphin
raised in its August 31 and October 17 letters.
|
|
24
|
Dolphin
files an action in Delaware Court of Chancery seeking to compel
compliance
with its September 19th
request.
|
|
26
|
Mr.
Vinod Gupta makes public statement that “the Board has decided to
virtually eliminate such [related party] transactions going
forward.”
|
|
November
|
17
|
Dolphin
sends letter to Board, expressing its disappointment with the
Board’s
failure to act.
|
December
|
22
|
Delaware
Court of Chancery orders Company to comply with Dolphin’s books and
records demand.
|
2006
|
||
January
|
First
week
|
Dolphin
receives approximately 15,000 pages from infoUSA.
|
18
|
Dolphin
offers to share preliminary findings with non-management Directors
- never
heard back.
|
|
February
|
7
|
Dolphin
challenges confidentiality of documents in Delaware Court of
Chancery.
|
March
|
8
|
Dolphin
sends letter to non-management Directors asking the Board to
publicly
announce how it will deal with Mr. Vinod Gupta’s expiring standstill
letter - the Board does nothing.
|
14
|
Dolphin
sends letter to the Company offering, on a consensual basis,
a candidate
to fill a vacancy created by Director Stryker’s departure. Dolphin asked
for a decision by March 28th
-
No response.
|
|
17
|
Pending
the Board’s decision on the consensual offer, in
order to be timely,
Dolphin notified the Company of its intention to nominate three
Directors.
|
|
29
|
Dolphin
publicly announces proxy contest.
|
1.
|
CGQ
(May 1, 2006)
|
2.
|
Board
Analyst (March 15, 2006)
|
3.
|
Stephens
Inc:
|
· |
Adopt
the by-law amendment to prohibit for three years the re-nomination
or
appointment by the Board of a Director who has been voted down
by
shareholders.
|
· |
Reconstitute
the Special Committee to analyze the best alternatives to maximize
shareholder value. The Special Committee should explore all
alternatives,
including internal operational changes and capital structure
and dividend
policy; not just a sale of the
Company.
|
· |
Name
a truly independent Chairman of the
Board
|
· |
End
Mr. Vinod Gupta’s exemption from the poison
pill
|
· |
Strengthen
the Nominating
and Corporate Governance Committee by retaining an independent
search firm
to recruit independent candidates for
vacancies.
|
· |
Establish
meaningful policies to curb abusive related party transactions
and other
payments and improper use of corporate assets - correcting
abuses that
violate the Company’s own code of conduct (available on IUSA’s
website).
|
· |
Review
all related party transactions and other payments and instances
of
improper use of corporate assets and seek reimbursement from
those found
to have received improper benefits.
|
· |
Strengthen
the Compensation Committee by ensuring that all awards under
the company’s
equity incentive plans truly incentivize the creation of shareholder
value
and do not cause unnecessary
dilution.
|
· |
Eliminate
the current plan provisions permitting the repricing of
options.
|
· |
Thorough,
Annual Review of the Effectiveness of Senior Management, including
management turnover.
|
· |
Review
All Current Business Strategies.
|
· |
Explore
New Business Strategies:
|
· |
A
Board with continuous turnover and conflicts has been unable
or unwilling
to rein in Mr. Vinod Gupta and demand performance and
accountability.
|
· |
Mr.
Vinod Gupta has persistently abused the trust of unaffiliated
shareholders
and should no longer serve as a
Director.
|
· |
Mr.
Vinod Gupta appears to be seeking absolute control which surely
will
damage the value enhancing alternatives for unaffiliated
shareholders.
|
· |
This
is the last chance for strong independent Directors to redress
this
situation.
|