Contact: John Harrington – 707.252.6166
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 31, 2006
Napa, California
Will the Scotts Family Listen to the Rest of the Owners?
Scotts' shareholders make it clear they favor electing all directors annually.
Harrington Investments, Inc. (HII), a Napa, California based socially responsible investment advisory firm, announced that 45.78% of the shareholders voting at the annual meeting for Scotts Miracle-Gro Company chose to eliminate staggered board terms that protect incumbent corporate directors.
"The vote was large in absolute terms, and it represented almost all of the shareholders who are not company directors or members of the founder's family," said John Harrington, President/CEO of HII and the sponsor of the shareholder resolution. "The message is very clear: get rid of the company's oligarchy."
Mr. Lynn Miller represented Harrington before Scotts' shareholders, pointing out that the financial rating for Scotts had been recently downgraded by Standard & Poor, partly due to concerns about corporate governance issues and outdated board policy. Miller urged shareholders to follow the example of 48 other companies that have recently declassified their boards.
"Suffice it to say that a classified board in which directors are elected in staggered three-year sequences is an ancient and relic form of corporate governance that is firmly tied in the public's mind to the sordid history of Enron/WorldCom/Tyco scandals, and should be duly retired as we all strive for the continued success of Scotts Miracle-Gro," concluded Miller.
HII was recently successful in convincing Starbucks to eliminate the company's classified board. Starbucks announced in a letter to Harrington dated November 22, 2005 that the company would elect their entire board annually, beginning in 2007. Harrington said that the next step for both Scotts and Starbucks is to require directors to be elected by a majority vote of all shareholders, in addition to being held accountable to the legal owners of the companies annually.
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