Comverse Tech (CMVT) Holder Oliver Press Partners Seeks To Call Special Meeting and Elect New Directors

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By Douglas A. McIntyre Published
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From 13D Tracker

Yesterday afternoon, Oliver Press Partners filed a solicitation statement saying they intend to seek support from fellow Comverse Technology (OTC: CMVT) shareholders having at least ten percent (10%) of Comverse’s common stock for the purpose of calling a special meeting to elect directors. Oliver Press Partners said Comverse has failed to hold an annual meeting of shareholders since June 16, 2005.

Oliver Press Partners said they intend to nominate principals Augustus K. Oliver and Clifford Press, for election to the Board along with the Company’s current directors assuming they consent.
If elected, Messrs. Oliver and Press intend to encourage the full Board to direct an investment banking firm to work with Comverse’s counsel and auditors to develop a value recovery plan for Comverse that can be implemented promptly once Comverse is current in its filing and other requirements under applicable securities regulations.
Clifford Press, a partner in Oliver Press Partners , said, "We have been discussing with members of Comverse’s Board the need for shareholder participation since early February, but no action has been taken by them to date. Our corporate law has long recognized that public company boards can not and should not be able to perpetuate themselves in office by simply failing to call and hold a shareholder meeting. It is now twenty two months since shareholders have had any say in who is overseeing their Comverse investment. We believe that shareholders both desire and deserve that say today."
In the SEC filing, Oliver Press Partners noted they began purchasing shares on the company in mid-November and accumulated most of the shares now owned in late November and early December.
Oliver Press Partners has not filed a 13D, indicating they do not have a 5% or more stake in CMVT currently.
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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

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