FINDELL CAPITAL MANAGEMENT RESPONDS TO OPORTUN (NASDAQ: OPRT) COMMENTS, ANNOUNCES NOMINATION OF SANDRA BELL AND WARREN WILCOX
Findell Capital Management, owning 9.2% of Oportun Financial (NASDAQ: OPRT), has nominated Sandra Bell and Warren Wilcox as independent director candidates to address governance issues at the company. Findell criticizes the current Board's performance, highlighting OPRT's stock price decline from $27.95 in November 2021 to below $3 in early 2023, before recovering to approximately $6.00 following Findell's involvement.
The activist investor disputes the Board's claims of success, noting that while operating expenses were reduced to $400 million, origination volume declined from $3 billion in 2022 to $1.8 billion in 2024, with income-producing assets falling by 10%. Findell argues that Oportun's $3 billion loan book, generating $1 billion in interest revenue, should produce over $250 million in pre-tax income if operated efficiently.
Findell Capital Management, che detiene il 9,2% di Oportun Financial (NASDAQ: OPRT), ha nominato Sandra Bell e Warren Wilcox come candidati indipendenti per il consiglio di amministrazione, al fine di affrontare le problematiche di governance dell'azienda. Findell critica le prestazioni dell'attuale consiglio, evidenziando il calo del prezzo delle azioni di OPRT, passato da $27,95 nel novembre 2021 a meno di $3 all'inizio del 2023, prima di recuperare a circa $6,00 dopo l'intervento di Findell.
L'investitore attivista contesta le affermazioni di successo del consiglio, osservando che, sebbene le spese operative siano state ridotte a $400 milioni, il volume di origine è diminuito da $3 miliardi nel 2022 a $1,8 miliardi nel 2024, con un calo del 10% degli attivi produttivi di reddito. Findell sostiene che il portafoglio prestiti di Oportun, pari a $3 miliardi e in grado di generare $1 miliardo di entrate da interessi, dovrebbe produrre oltre $250 milioni di reddito ante imposte se gestito in modo efficiente.
Findell Capital Management, que posee el 9.2% de Oportun Financial (NASDAQ: OPRT), ha nominado a Sandra Bell y Warren Wilcox como candidatos independientes para el consejo de administración, con el fin de abordar los problemas de gobernanza de la empresa. Findell critica el desempeño del consejo actual, destacando la caída del precio de las acciones de OPRT, que pasó de $27.95 en noviembre de 2021 a menos de $3 a principios de 2023, antes de recuperarse a aproximadamente $6.00 tras la intervención de Findell.
El inversor activista impugna las afirmaciones de éxito del consejo, señalando que, aunque los gastos operativos se redujeron a $400 millones, el volumen de originación disminuyó de $3 mil millones en 2022 a $1.8 mil millones en 2024, con una caída del 10% en los activos generadores de ingresos. Findell argumenta que el libro de préstamos de Oportun de $3 mil millones, que genera $1 mil millones en ingresos por intereses, debería producir más de $250 millones en ingresos antes de impuestos si se opera de manera eficiente.
Findell Capital Management는 Oportun Financial (NASDAQ: OPRT)의 9.2%를 소유하고 있으며, Sandra Bell과 Warren Wilcox를 독립 이사 후보로 지명하여 회사의 거버넌스 문제를 해결하고자 합니다. Findell은 현재 이사회의 성과를 비판하며, OPRT의 주가가 2021년 11월 $27.95에서 2023년 초 $3 이하로 하락한 뒤 Findell의 개입으로 약 $6.00로 회복된 점을 강조합니다.
행동주의 투자자는 이사회의 성공 주장에 이의를 제기하며, 운영 비용이 $400백만으로 줄어든 반면, 원금 발생량이 2022년 $30억에서 2024년 $18억으로 감소하고 수익을 창출하는 자산이 10% 감소했다고 지적합니다. Findell은 Oportun의 $30억 대출 포트폴리오가 $10억의 이자 수익을 생성하며, 효율적으로 운영될 경우 세전 소득이 $2.5억 이상이어야 한다고 주장합니다.
Findell Capital Management, détenant 9,2 % d'Oportun Financial (NASDAQ: OPRT), a nommé Sandra Bell et Warren Wilcox comme candidats indépendants au conseil d'administration afin de traiter les problèmes de gouvernance de l'entreprise. Findell critique la performance actuelle du conseil, soulignant la baisse du prix de l'action OPRT, passée de 27,95 $ en novembre 2021 à moins de 3 $ au début de 2023, avant de remonter à environ 6,00 $ suite à l'intervention de Findell.
L'investisseur activiste conteste les affirmations de succès du conseil, notant que bien que les dépenses opérationnelles aient été réduites à 400 millions $, le volume d'origination a chuté de 3 milliards $ en 2022 à 1,8 milliard $ en 2024, avec une baisse de 10 % des actifs générateurs de revenus. Findell soutient que le portefeuille de prêts de 3 milliards $ d'Oportun, générant 1 milliard $ de revenus d'intérêts, devrait produire plus de 250 millions $ de bénéfice avant impôts s'il est géré efficacement.
Findell Capital Management, das 9,2% von Oportun Financial (NASDAQ: OPRT) besitzt, hat Sandra Bell und Warren Wilcox als unabhängige Direktorenkandidaten nominiert, um Governance-Probleme im Unternehmen anzugehen. Findell kritisiert die Leistung des aktuellen Vorstands und hebt den Rückgang des Aktienkurses von OPRT hervor, der von 27,95 $ im November 2021 auf unter 3 $ Anfang 2023 fiel, bevor er nach Findells Engagement auf etwa 6,00 $ zurückkehrte.
Der aktivistische Investor bestreitet die Erfolgsbehauptungen des Vorstands und weist darauf hin, dass, obwohl die Betriebskosten auf 400 Millionen $ gesenkt wurden, das Neugeschäftsvolumen von 3 Milliarden $ im Jahr 2022 auf 1,8 Milliarden $ im Jahr 2024 gesunken ist, während die ertragsbringenden Vermögenswerte um 10% gefallen sind. Findell argumentiert, dass das 3 Milliarden $ große Kreditportfolio von Oportun, das 1 Milliarde $ an Zinseinnahmen generiert, bei effizienter Verwaltung über 250 Millionen $ an Gewinn vor Steuern erzielen sollte.
- Stock price recovered from below $3 to approximately $6.00 following Findell's involvement
- Company maintains substantial $3 billion loan book generating $1 billion in interest revenue
- Operating expenses reduced to $400 million
- Origination volume declined from $3 billion in 2022 to $1.8 billion in 2024
- Income-producing assets fell by 10%
- Company was not profitable in calendar 2024
- Current board structure raises governance concerns
Insights
Findell Capital Management's nomination of two directors to Oportun's board represents a significant escalation in their activist campaign against the current leadership. As a 9.2% shareholder, Findell's actions could materially influence company direction through board composition changes.
The activist's critique is pointed: Oportun's stock fell from
The two nominees bring substantial relevant credentials: Sandra Bell (current Chimera Investment director, former CFO at several financial institutions) and Warren Wilcox (former Encore Capital Group board member, fintech startup creator, and executive at multiple financial services companies). Their backgrounds in lending and financial services directly address Findell's criticism that the board lacks industry expertise.
This proxy contest centers on two key governance questions: 1) whether an independent director with lending experience should serve as lead director, and 2) whether six legacy directors without lending experience should remain on the board of a lending business. While the current board claims credit for recent performance improvement, Findell contends the company remains significantly undervalued and underperforming relative to its potential.
The outcome will ultimately depend on whether other shareholders share Findell's assessment that governance changes are needed to unlock the company's full value potential.
This activist campaign highlights significant operational concerns at Oportun. Findell Capital's critique contains specific performance metrics worth examining: they claim a
The shareholder's analysis points to operational inefficiency - despite reducing expenses to
This misalignment between cost structure and business volume appears to have contributed to continued unprofitability through 2024, despite expense reductions. Findell further argues that slow implementation of necessary changes led to dilutive financing that might have been avoided.
The market capitalization perspective is particularly telling - at
The nomination of directors with substantial lending experience (Bell's background as CFO at multiple financial institutions and Wilcox's experience at Providian, Household International, and Mercury Financial) appears directly targeted at addressing these operational challenges. The activist's thesis rests on improving operational efficiency in what they describe as a "gem of a lending business" that remains dramatically undervalued.
Expresses Confidence in Expertise and Experience of Ms. Bell and Mr. Wilcox to Drive Much-Needed Governance and Operational Improvements
Points Out Record of Value Destruction by Management and Legacy Board, Credits Recent Stock Price Improvement to Findell's Involvement and Oversight Provided by New Directors
The full text of the letter can be found on Findell's website (see here) and below:
To the Board of Directors and our Fellow Stockholders:
Findell Capital Management LLC (together with certain of its affiliates, "Findell," "we," "us," or "our") announced today that we have nominated two highly qualified director candidates, Sandra Bell and Warren Wilcox, to the board of directors (the "Board") of Oportun Financial Corporation ("Oportun" or the "Company").
We believe that the addition of Ms. Bell and Mr. Wilcox to the Board is necessary to address the governance issues plaguing the Company and impeding long-term value realization. The current ten-member classified Board continues to be controlled by six legacy directors whose lack of lending experience, troubling interpersonal ties and overall track record raise serious concerns for us about their ability to continue to oversee the Company.
In response to our open letter last week, Oportun issued a public statement in which its leadership touts the Company's recent results and argues that they justify not making governance improvements. While we welcome the opportunity for constructive dialogue, we feel it is important to correct the record by providing context to claims made in the Company's recent statement.
Oportun's stock price reached a high of
We believe it is rich for the legacy Board and management to take credit for the recent improvement in stock price given their decisions drove Oportun to the brink of insolvency and the drastic improvements since then have flowed almost entirely from our entreaties and the involvement of our seasoned lending executives to shepherd along those changes.
The reality of this business is simple - Oportun has a loan book of approximately
There were other misleading claims in their response that we believe demonstrated a dim understanding of their own operating economics. Oportun claimed for instance that they exceeded our cost cut calls – we called for
They failed to note that during the two subsequent years following our letter, origination volume declined from
While we are happy to give some credit to the Board for at least partially enacting obvious and necessary changes, the reality is that had Oportun reacted fully and promptly, we believe expensive dilution would not have been necessary.
Instead, the Board has slow played what should have been obvious changes and has acted in our view as generally contemptuous towards stockholders, of which we are the largest.
We can see this today in their refusal to make the critical operational and governance improvements that we have called for in our public letters, which would, we believe, drive earnings and associated multiples substantially higher upon adoption.
In the coming weeks, Oportun will have to answer two questions:
- Why will this lending company not commit to having an independent director with lending experience as lead director – one with no ties to current management or legacy Board members?
- Why is it in the interest of the stockholders of a lending company with a
$225 million
We believe that Oportun is a gem of a lending business that is dramatically underperforming and undervalued, and as long as the status quo persists and the above questions remain unanswered, it falls to stockholders to take advantage of this opportunity to drive substantive change at the Company's upcoming annual meeting by electing our two independent and highly qualified nominees, Warren Wilcox and Sandra Bell.
Sandra Bell currently serves as an Independent Director of Chimera Investment Corporation, where she chairs the Risk Committee and serves on the Audit Committee. Ms. Bell also serves as a Managing Director in the Interim Management Practice at Riveron Consulting, LLC. Previously, Ms. Bell served as the Chief Financial Officer of Tiptree Inc. ("Tiptree"). Prior to Tiptree, Ms. Bell served as Chief Financial Officer of Prospect Mortgage, LLC and as Chief Financial Officer of PHH Corporation. Before that, Ms. Bell served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Federal Home Loan Bank of
Warren Wilcox has served on several boards, both public and private; including Encore Capital Group, Inc., the second largest debt buyer and collector in the
We believe Ms. Bell and Mr. Wilcox possess the lending and financial services skills and the hands-on industry and board and experience to point Oportun in the right direction and ensure that the interests of stockholders, not those of Board members or management, are put first in the Board room.
We encourage all stockholders to reach out to management and the board to voice their concerns and look forward to sharing more about our highly qualified nominees and their plans to bring meaningful change to Oportun in the weeks to come.
Sincerely,
Brian Finn
CIO
Findell Capital
CERTAIN INFORMATION CONCERNING THE PARTICIPANTS
Findell Capital Management LLC, ("Findell"), together with the other participants named herein, intends to file 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 Findell's slate of highly-qualified director nominees at the 2025 annual meeting of stockholders of Oportun Financial Corporation, a
FINDELL STRONGLY ADVISES ALL STOCKHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT AND OTHER PROXY MATERIALS, INCLUDING A PROXY CARD, 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 anticipated proxy solicitation are expected to be Findell, Findell Capital Partners, LP ("Findell Partners"), Finn Management GP LLC ("Findell Management"), Brian Finn, Sandra Bell and Warren Wilcox.
As of the date hereof, Findell Partners directly beneficially owns 2,011,000 shares of common stock,
Contact:
Findell Capital Management, LLC
88 Pine Street, 22nd Fl.
info@findell.us
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/findell-capital-management-responds-to-oportun-nasdaq-oprt-comments-announces-nomination-of-sandra-bell-and-warren-wilcox-302412748.html
SOURCE Findell Capital Management, LLC
FAQ
What is Findell Capital's ownership stake in Oportun (OPRT)?
How has Oportun's (OPRT) stock price performed since 2021?
Who are Findell's nominated directors for Oportun's (OPRT) board?
What are the key financial metrics of Oportun (OPRT) mentioned in the release?
How have Oportun's (OPRT) operating expenses changed?
