A pair of investment funds that control nearly 10 percent of Synacor Inc.’s stock are turning up the heat on the Buffalo Internet content provider’s management.
JEC Capital Partners, a Massachusetts-based investment firm with a history of shareholder activism, and a Dutch company, Ratio Capital Partners, said in a joint filing with federal regulators that they may seek a seat on the company’s board of directors.
The investment firms also said they intend to communicate with Synacor’s board about the company’s ongoing search for a new chief executive officer to replace Ronald Frankel, who has said he plans to retire when a successor is found. The firms also said they want to discuss the company’s strategic direction and prospects, as well as Synacor’s capital structure.
The funds disclosed their stake in Synacor and their intent to take an active role in the company in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
JEC Capital, which is based in Randolph, Mass, has taken an activist role at companies such as Ithaca Energy and KIT digital. The firm said in the filing that it holds a 4.9 percent stake in Synacor. Ratio Capital, which is based in Amsterdam, also said it holds a 4.9 percent stake.
The filing comes at a time when Synacor’s shares trade for less than half of their March 2012 initial public offering price of $5. The company lost $1.4 million last year as its revenues slid by 8 percent after a change by Microsoft in its Windows 8 operating system relegated the start pages that Synacor operates for its customers to a secondary screen that requires additional clicks for users to access. New products that the company hopes will become additional sources of revenue also have taken longer than expected to develop.
Synacor executives could not be reached to comment on Wednesday.
email: drobinson@buffnews.com
JEC Capital Partners, a Massachusetts-based investment firm with a history of shareholder activism, and a Dutch company, Ratio Capital Partners, said in a joint filing with federal regulators that they may seek a seat on the company’s board of directors.
The investment firms also said they intend to communicate with Synacor’s board about the company’s ongoing search for a new chief executive officer to replace Ronald Frankel, who has said he plans to retire when a successor is found. The firms also said they want to discuss the company’s strategic direction and prospects, as well as Synacor’s capital structure.
The funds disclosed their stake in Synacor and their intent to take an active role in the company in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
JEC Capital, which is based in Randolph, Mass, has taken an activist role at companies such as Ithaca Energy and KIT digital. The firm said in the filing that it holds a 4.9 percent stake in Synacor. Ratio Capital, which is based in Amsterdam, also said it holds a 4.9 percent stake.
The filing comes at a time when Synacor’s shares trade for less than half of their March 2012 initial public offering price of $5. The company lost $1.4 million last year as its revenues slid by 8 percent after a change by Microsoft in its Windows 8 operating system relegated the start pages that Synacor operates for its customers to a secondary screen that requires additional clicks for users to access. New products that the company hopes will become additional sources of revenue also have taken longer than expected to develop.
Synacor executives could not be reached to comment on Wednesday.
email: drobinson@buffnews.com