Blackwells Capital Issues Open Letter to Colony Capital Board of Directors, Calling for Removal of CEO Tom Barrack and Other Urgent Steps to Reverse Continued Value Destruction
NEW YORK, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Blackwells Capital LLC (together with its affiliates “Blackwells”), an alternative investment management firm with ownership representing an approximately 2% interest in Colony Capital, Inc. (NYSE: CLNY) (“Colony” or the “Company”), today issued an open letter to the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”). Blackwells called on the Board to urgently intervene to stop the ruinous leadership, lack of accountability, poor governance and haphazard corporate strategy that has destroyed more than $7 billion in shareholder’s equity value under Executive Chairman Thomas J. Barrack and the current Board. Previously, Blackwells announced that it will nominate five exceptional candidates for election to Colony’s Board at the upcoming 2020 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.
Blackwells, as well as other shareholders with whom it has spoken, considers the Company’s share price decline – which has continued despite or because of the “Colony 2.0” strategic pivot – an urgent concern for the current Board. Executive Chairman Mr. Barrack however is seemingly more philosophical, commenting on the Company’s fourth quarter 2019 earnings call last week, “Many times, the adaptation and redefinition of the vision is just a short-term pain for long-term gain. However, we are stewards of an enterprise balance sheet, and we are focused on the long gain as we continue to provide meaningful dividends from our legacy assets and extraordinary total return from our digital assets.”