Your hypothesis could be correct. "Your Board believes that the Portnoy Group does not provide Cryo-Cell or its stockholders with any strategic direction for the Company. The Portnoy Group’s overly simplistic platform to “eliminate any and all unnecessary costs” and “increase revenues by redirecting sales and marketing efforts” does not provide Cryo-Cell with any strategic direction or meaningful operating plan to create substantive stockholder value. We believe that Mr. Portnoy’s rhetoric will ring hollow in the new and complex frontier of regenerative medicine and women’s healthcare that is governed by rigorous scientific, technological, regulatory and commercialization protocols.
Conversely, as an empirical example of how misguided the Portnoy Group nominees are, on September 12, 2010, Mr. Portnoy, citing a personal relationship with the management of Cord Blood America (CBAI), wrote to the Cryo-Cell Board of Directors recommending that the Board sell its cord blood business to CBAI. Since that time, the CBAI stock price is down approximately 76%, while the Cryo-Cell stock price is up approximately 157%. The following graph depicts the relative stock price performance of CBAI and Cryo-Cell since Mr. Portnoy made that recommendation.
In an effort to avoid the high costs and disruption to the Company from yet another proxy contest, the Cryo-Cell Board offered Mr. Portnoy a seat on the Board soon after he submitted his nominations in May 2011. Mr. Portnoy rejected the Cryo-Cell board’s conciliatory offer, opting instead to wage a costly proxy contest. Clearly, Mr. Portnoy is not satisfied simply having a voice at the table, but rather is looking for board representation, and control, that far exceeds his current stock ownership. We have no reason to believe that Mr. Portnoy doesn’t have the same personal relationship with the management of CBAI and can only wonder at his true intentions. The Portnoy Group’s campaign ignores Cryo-Cell’s long-term outstanding performance, and his costly actions demonstrate a singular disregard for the serious potential damage they may cause on the broader base of Cryo-Cell stockholders, clients, business partners and employees. http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/862692/000119312511208419/ddefa14a.htm
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