Obagi Shareholder Voce Capital Seeking to Replace Obagi Board Members

Voce Capital Management LLC announces its intention to replace six members of the board of directors at Obagi Medical Products, Inc. with independent nominees. It also is requesting the company hold an annual meeting by February 28, 2013.

In a letter to Obagi, Voce—which has owned shares in Obagi since June 2011—criticized the board for “continued mismanagement” of the company, not addressing Voce’s demands for corporate governance reform and an unwillingness to pursue acquisition interest.

Voce’s nominees for the board include Dr. George Lasezkay, the former head of strategy and corporate development for Allergan; Joseph Whitters, an advisor to Frazier Health Care and former chairman of the board of Mentor; Jim Hickey, a former CEO of six different medical devices companies and recently chairman of the board of Vital Images; Kristin McDonnell, recently CEO of Limelife; Joseph Lash, a private equity investor, senior Wall Street advisor and experienced public company board member; and one Voce representative, J. Daniel Plants, its managing partner and a former investment banking executive at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase.

Finally, Voce’s letter calls upon Obagi to hold the annual meeting no later than February 28, 2013. Consistent with the concerns Voce has expressed about the value at Obagi, it states that “waiting until June to hold the annual meeting will likely result in the further deterioration of Obagi’s franchise value. The company simply cannot afford another six months of reckless leadership and wasteful spending on the board and CEO’s Internet dream.”

The entirety of the letter from Voce to the Obagi board can be seen here.

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