(Reuters) – Indaba Capital Management said Benefitfocus Inc’s unwillingness to “compromise” and appoint the hedge fund’s director nominee to the benefit management software company’s board was disappointing.
The parties have been trading barbs for weeks over the company’s high turnover in its executive suite and who should be sitting on its board.
In its latest proposal, Indaba had suggested Benefitfocus appoint Ronald Mitchell, one of the two candidates nominated by the hedge fund on Mar. 16, to its board, and in exchange offered to withdraw its other nomination and accept settlement terms.
Benefitfocus did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Indaba’s two nominees were Ronald Mitchell, managing partner of Low Post Ventures, and Nicholas Pianim, a managing director at venture capital firm DAG Ventures
In February, San Francisco-based Indaba, which owns a roughly 9.5% stake in Benefitfocus, called on the South Carolina-based company to sell the business following years of poor returns, sluggish stock price during booming markets, and warned that shareholders will lose confidence if nothing changes.
(Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
