Rubric Capital Management Nominates Two Highly Qualified, Independent Directors to Xperi Inc. Board of Directors
11 Marzo 2024 - 1:00PM
Business Wire
Believes History of Underperformance, Poor
Decision Making and Reckless Capital Allocation Under
Incumbent Board Warrant Urgent Change
Rubric’s Nominees – Thomas A. Lacey and
Deborah S. Conrad – Bring Necessary Leadership Experience,
Marketing Knowledge, and Financial and Corporate Strategy Expertise
to Drive Sustained Growth and Profitability
Files Preliminary Proxy Statement for
Xperi’s 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders
Rubric Capital Management LP (“Rubric”), an investment advisor
whose managed funds and accounts collectively own approximately
9.1% of the outstanding shares of common stock of Xperi Inc. (NYSE:
XPER) (“Xperi” or the “Company”), today announced that it has
nominated two highly qualified, independent director candidates –
Thomas A. Lacey and Deborah S. Conrad – for election to the
Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”) at the 2024 Annual
Meeting of Stockholders (the “Annual Meeting”).
David Rosen, Managing Partner of Rubric, said, “Xperi has built
an attractive portfolio of innovative enablement technologies with
significant monetization potential. Unfortunately, this potential
has been all but squandered under the oversight of the current
Board, and stockholders have paid the price.
“The facts speak for themselves. Since the completion of its
spin-off, Xperi shares have materially underperformed any
comparable benchmark, declining by approximately 28%, during which
period the S&P Software Index had a total return of
approximately 74% and the Russell 3000 returned approximately 42%.1
Xperi’s margin performance has been similarly underwhelming when
compared to peers. This underperformance has been idiomatic to
Xperi – dating back to its former parent company, which shared
nearly all the same directors – and we believe it is the direct
result of the Board’s poor decision making and capital allocation
practices. The failure to capitalize on the promise of Perceive,
despite its potential to accelerate the AI software stack, while
shouldering stockholders with years of losses is emblematic of the
Company’s capital mismanagement, as is the recent sale of the
Company’s AutoSense division for zero upfront consideration,
exposing Xperi stockholders to significant counterparty risk.
Moreover, the fact that this Board has deemed it appropriate to
issue insiders over 10% of the Company’s equity in the last year
alone despite Xperi’s staggeringly poor returns is, in our view,
indefensible and indicative of a Board that desperately needs
direct stockholder representatives in the boardroom.
“We have always sought to engage constructively with the
Company’s Board and management team across the duration of our
investment, which spans Xperi’s life as a standalone company, and
our history with its predecessor entities goes back to Rubric’s
inception. However, the direction of the Company is untenable, and
we have lost confidence in the ability of the Board to provide the
oversight required to stem the tide of losses and drive meaningful
stockholder value. Our director candidates have the leadership
experience, marketing knowledge, and financial and corporate
strategy expertise that is urgently needed to help set Xperi on a
trajectory of sustained growth and profitability for the benefit of
all stakeholders.”
Rubric’s nominees include:
Thomas A. Lacey
Mr. Lacey has decades of management and boardroom experience,
including at Xperi’s predecessor company, and would bring
operational and capital allocation expertise as well as an
ownership perspective to Xperi’s Board.
- Mr. Lacey previously served as Chief Executive Officer and a
director of Xperi Corporation (formerly NASDAQ: XPER) (formerly
Tessera Technologies, Inc.; NASDAQ: TSRA) from 2013 to 2017, and
has continued to be an Xperi stockholder since his departure. Under
Mr. Lacey’s leadership, Xperi Corporation demonstrated fiscal
discipline and careful capital allocation, resulting in annual
stockholder returns double the rate of the Russell 3000 during his
tenure.
- Prior to Xperi Corporation, Mr. Lacey served as Chairman of the
board of directors and Chief Executive Officer of Components
Direct, and President, Chief Executive Officer, and a director of
Phoenix Technologies Ltd. (formerly NASDAQ: PTEC).
- He currently serves on the board of directors and board of
advisors of semiconductor companies Kandou Bus S.A. and AKHAN
Technologies, Inc., respectively, and previously served on the
boards of directors of DSP Group, Inc. (formerly NASDAQ: DSPG),
Immersion Corporation (NASDAQ: IMMR), and International Rectifier
Corporation (formerly NYSE: IRF). He also served as Interim CEO of
AKHAN Technologies, Inc. and Immersion Corporation.
Deborah S. Conrad
Ms. Conrad is a seasoned marketing executive, and her depth and
breadth of consumer facing technology enabled experience will
greatly enhance the Board capabilities at Xperi as it embarks on
its next stage of growth.
- Ms. Conrad previously worked for over 27 years at Intel
Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC), where she held senior positions of
increasing responsibility across multiple areas, including
marketing, communications, brand management and business
development, culminating in her role as Corporate Vice President
and Chief Marketing Officer, from 2008 to 2014.
- More recently, she has held numerous healthcare technology
leadership positions, including Senior Vice President and Chief
Marketing Officer at Hinge Health, Inc.; Chief Marketing Officer at
Vori Health Inc.; Interim Chief Marketing Officer and a strategic
advisor at NovaSignal Corp.; and Senior Vice President, Chief
Marketing Officer, and a strategic advisor at Included Health,
LLC.
- She also previously served as a strategic advisor to the
portfolio companies of Cowboy Ventures LLC, a venture capital firm
supporting seed-stage technology companies.
CERTAIN INFORMATION CONCERNING THE
PARTICIPANTS
Rubric Capital Master Fund LP (“Rubric Master”), together with
the other participants named herein (collectively, “Rubric”), has
filed a preliminary proxy statement and accompanying WHITE
universal proxy card with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(“SEC”) to be used to solicit votes for the election of its slate
of highly qualified director nominees at the 2024 annual meeting of
stockholders of Xperi Inc., a Delaware corporation (the
“Company”).
RUBRIC STRONGLY ADVISES ALL STOCKHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY TO READ
THE PROXY STATEMENT AND OTHER PROXY MATERIALS AS THEY BECOME
AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. SUCH
PROXY MATERIALS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT NO CHARGE ON THE SEC’S WEB
SITE AT HTTP://WWW.SEC.GOV. IN ADDITION, THE PARTICIPANTS IN THIS
PROXY SOLICITATION WILL PROVIDE COPIES OF THE PROXY STATEMENT
WITHOUT CHARGE, WHEN AVAILABLE, UPON REQUEST. REQUESTS FOR COPIES
SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO THE PARTICIPANTS’ PROXY SOLICITOR.
The participants in the proxy solicitation are anticipated to be
Rubric Master, Rubric Capital GP LLC (“Rubric Master GP”), Rubric
Capital Management LP (“Rubric Capital”), Rubric Capital Management
GP LLC (“Rubric Capital GP”), David Rosen, Deborah S. Conrad and
Thomas A. Lacey.
As of the date hereof, Rubric Master directly beneficially owns
3,417,988 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share, of
the Company (the “Common Stock”). As of the date hereof, 625,756
shares of Common Stock are held in certain accounts managed by
Rubric Capital (the “Rubric Accounts”). Rubric Master GP, as the
general partner of Rubric Master, may be deemed the beneficial
owner of the 3,417,988 shares of Common Stock owned by Rubric
Master. Rubric Capital, as the investment manager of Rubric Master
and the Rubric Accounts, may be deemed the beneficial owner of the
4,043,744 shares of Common Stock owned in the aggregate by Rubric
Master and held in the Rubric Accounts. Rubric Capital GP, as the
general partner of Rubric Capital, may be deemed the beneficial
owner of the 4,043,744 shares of Common Stock owned in the
aggregate by Rubric Master and held in the Rubric Accounts. Mr.
Rosen, as the managing member of Rubric Master GP and Rubric
Capital GP, may be deemed the beneficial owner of the 4,043,744
shares of Common Stock owned in the aggregate by Rubric Master and
held in the Rubric Accounts. As of the date hereof, Mr. Lacey
directly beneficially owns 4,208 shares of Common Stock. As of the
date hereof, Ms. Conrad does not own any shares of Common
Stock.
__________________________ 1 Source: Bloomberg. Calculated as of
March 7, 2024.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240311861772/en/
Media: Jonathan Gasthalter/Sam Fisher Gasthalter & Co. (212)
257-4170
Investors: Jason W. Alexander/Bruce H. Goldfarb Okapi Partners
LLC (212) 297-0720
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