National Post – A family fortune built on candy and trading cards, a brewing battle over control, scathing letters, a pile of surplus cash and speculation that even Warren Buffett could get interested.<\/p>\n
It has all the elements of a great American novel, or comedic opera.<\/p>\n
At the end of this month, The Topps Company Inc., a New York- based confectionary and trading-card firm, will hold a proxy battle with dissident shareholders Pembridge Capital Management LLC and Crescendo Partners.<\/p>\n
The two hedge funds, who in the proxy statement refer to themselves as the “Topps Full Value Committee,” are headed by Timothy Brog, who runs Pembridge Capital Management LLC, and Eric Rosenfeld, who runs Crescendo Partners. Together they own over 7% of Topps’ common stock. “It’s time for a change,” Mr. Brog told the Wall Street Journal. “Management has been running Topps like it’s a candy store from the 1950s.”<\/p>\n
Mr. Brog would like to split up the company or sell it outright.<\/p>\n
Canadian investors will remember Mr. Rosenfeld for how he shook up the likes of Spar Aerospace, Geac Computer Corp., Pivotal Corp. and AD OPT Technologies Inc. He eventually pushed the companies to be sold.<\/p>\n
In a letter to shareholders filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the hedge funds complained about “outrageous” salaries and bonuses paid to Topps senior staff, a “dismal” stock performance, brand mismanagement and how it has been sitting on US$100-million of cash for the past five years.<\/p>\n