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Metromedia International Group, Inc.
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(Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
Elliott Associates, L.P. and Elliott International, L.P.
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[Lens Letterhead]
Contact: Richard A. Bennett Scott Sunshine
Chief Activism Officer TowersGroup
Lens (212) 354-5020
(207) 775-4296 scottsunshine@towerspr.com
rbennett@lens-inc.com
ELLIOTT ASSOCIATES RESPONDS TO
METROMEDIA INTERNATIONAL GROUP DEVELOPMENT
October 12 Annual Meeting Date Set but Many Troubling Issues Remain
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NEW YORK, July 24, 2001 - Following the granting of an August 10 trial date by
the Delaware Chancery Court in the suit by Elliott Associates, L.P. and Elliott
International, L.P. (together "Elliott") to compel Metromedia International
Group (AMEX: MMG) to hold its annual meeting, MMG has announced that it would
finally hold its 2001 annual meeting of stockholders on October 12. Elliott
commends MMG for setting a date for its long overdue annual meeting, yet
believes that many troubling issues about the company's intentions still remain.
"This announcement has been a long time coming," said Richard A. Bennett, a
principal of Lens Investment Management, LLC, the shareholder activist
specialist working on behalf of Elliott in its MMG efforts. "This is a positive
development for the stockholders of MMG. We only wish MMG had set the meeting
date before Elliott had to go to court to protect the stockholders' rights to a
timely annual meeting. The annual meeting will be a forum at which the
management and Board of Directors of MMG will be forced to answer to
stockholders and explain what we believe to be the company's unacceptable stock
price performance."
While expressing their satisfaction at the establishment of an annual meeting
date, Elliott and Lens have raised several issues which still need to be
addressed promptly by MMG's management, including:
(MORE)
ELLIOTT ASSOCIATES RESPONDS TO .../2
|X| Why is the annual meeting so late in being set, and why do stockholders
have to wait a further 2 1/2 months to confront management with their
concerns?
|X| The last annual meeting held by MMG was on May 17, 2000, meaning that
almost 17 months will have elapsed between annual meetings. Further, the
company's bylaws call for an annual meeting no later than May of each year.
Elliott and Lens believe this contravention is unjustifiable, and yet the
company has not offered its stockholders any reasonable explanation for the
delay.
|X| While announcing a date for the annual meeting, MMG still has not set a
record date for the annual meeting, nor has MMG disclosed the exact time or
place where the meeting will be held.
|X| MMG has been "exploring structural alternatives" since November 2000,
ostensibly to maximize stockholder value. Since that time, close to nine
months have passed and MMG has yet to put forth any concrete alternatives
to maximize, or even increase, stockholder value. Management has said that
final actions resulting from their restructuring plans may be subject to
shareholder consent, and yet MMG still has not indicated what issues are to
be voted on at the annual meeting.
|X| Given that MMG has not announced that it has finalized any restructuring
plans, what is to prevent the company from trying to further delay the
annual meeting beyond October 12 by claiming it needs more time to finish
those plans?
Metromedia International Group, Inc. is a global communications and media
company operating telephony and television businesses in Eastern Europe, the
republics of the former Soviet Union and other emerging markets. The company,
headed by Chairman John W. Kluge and CEO Stuart Subotnick, also owns the lawn
and garden equipment manufacturer Snapper, which it has called a "non-core"
asset.
Elliott Associates, L.P. and Elliott International, L.P. are institutional
investors with a collective ownership of approximately 4.0% of MMG Common Stock.
Elliott Associates is based in New York, and Elliott International is based in
the Cayman Islands. The investment activities of Elliott Associates and Elliott
International are under common management. (MORE)
ELLIOTT ASSOCIATES RESPONDS TO.../3
Founded in 1991 by Robert A.G. Monks as an investment management firm, Lens
Investment Management, LLC, was among the first fund managers to take an active
role in corporate governance. Over the past decade, Lens, which no longer
operates as a portfolio manager but rather as a specialist in investor activism,
has succeeded in increasing the value of shareholders' investment in companies
including Scott Paper, American Express, Eastman Kodak and Pioneer Group.
PLEASE READ THE PROXY STATEMENT OF ELLIOTT ASSOCIATES, L.P. AND ELLIOTT
INTERNATIONAL, L.P. WHEN IT BECOMES AVAILABLE, BECAUSE IT CONTAINS IMPORTANT
INFORMATION INCLUDING INFORMATION ABOUT INDIVIDUALS DEEMED TO BE PARTICIPANTS IN
THE SOLICITATION OF PROXIES OF METROMEDIA INTERNATIONAL GROUP, INC.
STOCKHOLDERS. YOU MAY OBTAIN THIS PROXY STATEMENT, OR ANY OTHER RELEVANT
DOCUMENTS, FOR FREE AT WWW.SEC.GOV AND AT WWW.FREEEDGAR.COM. YOU MAY ALSO OBTAIN
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