Genco Shipping & Trading Limited, the largest U.S. headquartered drybulk shipowner focused on the global transportation of commodities, announced that it has filed its definitive proxy materials with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the Company’s 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, scheduled to be held on May 23, 2024. Shareholders of record as of March 28, 2024, will be entitled to vote at the meeting.
In connection with the definitive proxy filing, the Company has mailed a letter to Genco shareholders recommending they vote for Genco’s seven highly qualified directors on the WHITE proxy card – James G. Dolphin, Paramita Das, Kathleen C. Haines, Basil G. Mavroleon, Karin Y. Orsel, Arthur L. Regan and John C. Wobensmith. The Company also launched VoteForGenco.com, which provides additional information and resources to shareholders about Genco’s value creation strategy, George Economou’s record of self-dealing and history of value destruction and resources to help shareholders vote at the 2024 Annual Meeting.
Highlights from the letter include:
- Genco is successfully executing on its Comprehensive Value Strategy to deliver compelling quarterly dividends for shareholders, reduce our debt and invest in growth opportunities to drive value through drybulk cycles.
- Genco’s highly qualified, active and engaged director nominees bring vast experience and expertise in shipping, fleet management, commercial and technical management, drybulk commodities, capital allocation management, financial reporting and M&A.
- Economou is a competitor seeking access to Genco’s Board room. Economou has a distinct track record of self-dealing to the detriment of other investors and a history of poor corporate governance practices.
- Economou’s nominee lacks relevant experience and has overseen significant value destruction at companies on which he has served on the board. He has been a professional pawn to activists with shady track records throughout his career and we believe he has demonstrated no ability to exercise independence. The Genco Board unanimously concluded that he would not be additive to our already strong, focused and experienced Board.
- The proposals Economou has made to the Genco Board have been self-serving. They have been thoroughly assessed and would double Genco’s net debt and impair our future ability to pay dividends with no discernable long-term benefit to all of our shareholders.