Message #24 From:
NewsBot Date: October 10, 2006 04:00:00 AM
MTRM News Metromedia International Group Inc. Announces Appointment of New Independent Director to the Company's Board of Directors
CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Metromedia International Group, Inc. (the “Company”
or “MIG”) (currently
traded as: (PINK SHEETS: MTRM) – Common Stock
and (PINK SHEETS: MTRMP) – Preferred Stock),
the owner of interests in communications businesses in the country of
Georgia, today announced that the Board of Directors of the Company has
temporarily expanded the size of the Board and appointed William F.
Harley III to the Board as an independent Class I Director with a term
expiring at the upcoming annual meeting of stockholders scheduled for
December 15, 2006.
Mr. Harley has been included in a slate of five individuals nominated by
Esopus Creek Capital, a stockholder of the Company, to stand for
election to the Company’s Board at the
upcoming annual stockholders meeting scheduled for December 15, 2006. As
a gesture of good faith and transparency on the part of the Company, the
Board has agreed to temporarily expand the size of the Board to ten
members and place Mr. Harley (one of the Esopus nominees) on the Board
immediately.
The Company’s Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer Mark Hauf said, “Mickey is a
respected and entrepreneurial business leader, and I believe our Board
and shareholders will benefit from his insight and experience.”
Concerning his appointment to the Company’s
Board, Mr. Harley commented: “I am pleased
with the Board’s willingness to invite me to
join the Board to help provide an open-minded and objective perspective
as the Board navigates through the complex tasks ahead. Joining the
Board today will provide me with valuable insight into the process that
led to the recently announced letter of intent in respect of the sale of
the Company’s remaining assets and the Company’s
planned next steps. Notwithstanding my agreement to serve as one of the
Esopus Creek nominees, I am approaching the upcoming board election with
an open mind and am not legally committed to vote for any particular
nominees.”
Mr. Harley, age 43, is Co-Portfolio Manger and Chief Investment Officer
of Mellon HBV Alternative Strategies LLC (“Mellon
HBV”), an investment advisor and beneficial
owner of 7,907,610 shares of Company common stock, and is principally
responsible for the investment decisions for Mellon HBV. Mr. Harley
graduated with a Masters in public and private management from Yale
University’s School of Management in 1990 and
with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering and a Bachelor
of Arts degree in economics from Yale in 1986.
In connection with the election of Mr. Harley to the Board of Directors
of the Company, the Board of Directors has temporarily increased and
fixed the number of directors of the Company at ten pursuant to the
terms of the Company’s restated by-laws, two
of whom are representatives of the preferred stockholders of the Company
elected to the Board in June 2004 pursuant to an agreement with certain
holders of the Company's 7.25% cumulative convertible preferred stock to
address the right of holders of the Company’s
preferred stock to place two members on the Board of Directors in
certain circumstances. At the upcoming annual meeting of stockholders of
the Company scheduled for December 15, 2006 for the election of
directors, the Board of Directors will be reduced to nine members, all
of whom will be up for election, and the holders of the Company’s
preferred stock will have the right to vote separately as a class for
the election of two of the nine director positions.
About Metromedia International Group
Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, the Company owns interests in
communications businesses in the country of Georgia. The Company’s
core businesses include Magticom, Ltd., the leading mobile telephony
operator in Tbilisi, Georgia, Telecom Georgia, a well-positioned
Georgian long distance telephony operator, and Telenet, a Georgian
company providing internet access, data communications, voice telephony
and international access services.
This news release contains certain forward-looking statements made as
of the date hereof based only on current information and expectations
that are inherently subject to change and involve a number of risks and
uncertainties, including in particular those regarding the election of
the Company’s Board of Directors and the
upcoming annual meeting of Company stockholders scheduled for December
15, 2006.Various factors beyond the Company's control could
cause or contribute to such risks and uncertainties.This also
includes such factors as are described from time to time in the SEC
reports filed by the Company, including the Current Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003, the Company's Form 10-Q
for the fiscal quarters ended March 31, 2004, June 30, 2004 and
September 30, 2004 and its most recently filed Form 8-K reports (dated
October 19, 2004, November 4, 2004, November 16, 2004, November 22,
2004, December 9, 2004, January 6, 2005, February 9, 2005, February 17,
2005, March 9, 2005, March 23, 2005, April 19, 2005, April 20, 2005,
June 7, 2005, June 17, 2005, July 12, 2005, July 18, 2005, July 25,
2005, July 28, 2005, August 3, 2005, August 10, 2005, September 8, 2005,
September 19, 2005, January 31, 2006, March 8, 2006, March 15, 2006,
March 17, 2006, May 11, 2006, May 18, 2006, June 26, 2006, July 14,
2006, August 8, 2006, August 15, 2006, August 22, 2006, September 27,
2006and October 2, 2006).The Company is not under, and
expressly disclaims any, obligation to update the information in this
news release for any future events.