Matthews International Issues Statement Following ISS Report

PITTSBURGH, Feb. 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Matthews International Corporation (Nasdaq GSM: MATW) (“Matthews” or the “Company”) issued the following statement regarding a February 6, 2025 report by Institutional Shareholder Services ("ISS"):

We strongly disagree with ISS’ recommendation, which adopts Barington’s positions while giving no substantive analysis to Barington’s own plans and nominees. In doing so, ISS does not give appropriate consideration to the concerning absence of relevant skills and new ideas among Barington’s nominees and the actions Matthews is taking to unlock the value of its businesses.

Notably, Barington’s “four-step plan” contains no ideas that would help shareholders, except those (like a strategic transaction of SGK) that have already been initiated by the Company. ISS’ report does not address whether Barington’s plans for the Company would be better for shareholders than the Board’s current strategy.

Additionally, we do not agree with the position that the “most important attribute” that Barington’s nominees have is their “independence.” In fact, they would bring to the Board a total lack of understanding about our business, no relevant skills, and track records of poor oversight. As a consultant to the Company, James Mitarotonda added no value, showed up to most meetings unprepared and made suggestions that either did not make sense or were already being executed. Barington’s other two nominees also showed no understanding of our Company in interviews with directors. Furthermore, Mr. Mitarotonda and his nominees have no experience relevant to the businesses in which we operate, and each have been criticized for questionable M&A oversight that was alleged to have destroyed shareholder value.

In contrast, under the current Board of Directors, the Company has taken significant actions to benefit all shareholders:

• The Board has developed our Memorialization segment into a market-leading, cash-generating business—leading to significant capital return to shareholders and significant re-investment into our high-growth Industrial Technologies segment, such as our Dry Battery Electrode (DBE) technology. Following our recent victory against Tesla in arbitration, we intend to immediately resume marketing, selling and delivering our DBE solutions to other customers in the growing electric vehicle market, where battery and automobile equipment manufacturers from around the world seek to adopt our innovative solutions. We expect that this victory will eliminate an overhang on the stock that we believed was caused by this dispute.