Dissident investors increase Times Co. stake

A dissident investor group that is now the largest public shareholder in The New York Times Co. today said it was disappointed in a board slate recommended by the publisher and was preparing a proxy battle.

The group — hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners and investment firm Firebrand Partners — disclosed that it has increased its stake in Times Co. to 15.6 percent.

The company said it was still reviewing the investor group’s four board nominees, but in a preliminary proxy filed with the Securities Exchange Commission it recommended that shareholders vote for its own slate of directors.

The Times Co.’s properties include The Boston Globe, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, and the About.com website.

Though its stake makes the Firebrand-Harbinger group the largest public shareholder, the company is controlled by the Ochs-Sulzberger family through a dual-class share structure.

‘‘We are particularly concerned that the company refused to interview any of our nominees despite our repeated offers to meet at their convenience,’’ a spokesman for the group said.

The group has hired proxy solicitor DF King and plans to file its preliminary proxy next week. The company’s annual shareholder meeting is April 22.

The Firebrand-Harbinger group aims to transform the company in five years from one that does about 10 percent of its business in digital to one that does most of its business in digital, a person close to Firebrand told Reuters last month.

Veteran newspaper analyst John Morton said the investor group might get some of its candidates on the board, but he doubts its ability to force change.

‘‘All of this is a tempest in a teapot,’’ he said. ‘‘The company is going to do what the family wants it to do.’’

Last week, Times Co. nominated two new candidates to its board: former Salomon Inc. CEO Robert Denham and Drugstore.com CEO Dawn Lepore.
(Reuters)