An activist investor, looking to shake things up at ShopHQ, the No. 3 home shopping channel, declared victory Wednesday in its proxy battle against the media property’s parent.
Clinton Group claims that ValueVision Media shareholders elected four directors from its six-person dissident slate at the company’s annual meeting.
All six would have been elected had Comcast Corp. not voted its entire 14 percent stake in favor of ValueVision’s incumbent board, Clinton said.
The results suggest ValueVision’s eight-person board — once the voting is certified — will be split evenly between the company’s slate and Clinton Group’s dissident slate.
That in itself represents a coup in that shareholders may snub an incumbent director now and then — but seldom replace half a board.
“We are pleased that four of our nominees received support from more than 70 percent of the shares voted by public shareholders,” said Greg Taxin, president of Clinton.
A ValueVision spokesperson shot back, taking exception to Taxin’s use of “public shareholders” — calling the phrase vague and misleading for not specifying what type of shareholders it failed to include.
Plus, an official tabulation of election results was still days away, the spokesperson added.
ShopHQ operated as ShopNBC until Jan. 31, when its licensing deal with Comcast’s NBCUniversal ended.
Based in Eden Prairie, Minn., ValueVision saw operating profit fall 37 percent in the three months ended May 3, on a 5.5 percent rise in revenue.
Shares in the company rose noticeably in late-morning trading after news of the vote trickled out. They closed up 7.1 percent, to $5.01.