After the events of the past month, the leadership of Grubb & Ellis Co. may welcome some peace and quiet this summer. In what could be the capper in a series of personnel shufflings, former board chairman Anthony Thompson, who helped engineer a blockbuster merger with NNN Realty Advisors and is still the company’s second-largest stockholder, wants to rejoin the firm\u2019s board of directors.Thompson\u2019s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission expressed dismay over the company\u2019s leadership and direction, citing in particular falling stock prices. In a letter to Grubb & Ellis\u2019 leadership filed with SEC and dated Thursday, Thompson wrote: \u201cIn the recent months since I left the board, Grubb & Ellis has announced poor results, been wracked by management turnover, and suffered an expensive and embarrassing setback when the special purpose acquisition vehicle that it sponsored unceremoniously failed.\u201d In particular, Thompson cited a 42 percent decline in the company\u2019s stock value this year, including a 21 percent drop this week.\u201cAlthough I fully understand the challenges presented by competition and the market, I refuse to accept that Grubb & Ellis\u2019 stock should be permitted to significantly under-perform that of its industry peers, which it has thus far this year,\u201d Thompson added. He told the company\u2019s directors that he has devised what he described as \u201ca carefully thought through strategy that I believe will enable Grubb & Ellis to leverage the compelling benefits of pairing on a single, integrated platform its legacy business lines and the business of NNN Realty Advisors.\u201d Grubb & Ellis executives could not be reached for an interview by today\u2019s deadline, but the firm offered assurances that the company is moving forward. In a prepared statement, board chairman Glenn Carpenter said, \u201cThe board believes that the company has made considerable progress over the past six months integrating Grubb & Ellis and NNN Realty Advisors, making the changes, during very difficult market conditions, necessary to position the company for increased growth and shareholder value over the long-term.\u201d Thompson\u2019s return to Grubb & Ellis would amount to an abrupt change of direction for the executive, who stepped down as board chairman in February. Two months later, Thompson launched a new private investment firm, Thompson National Properties L.L.C. Thompson\u2019s move came days after Tuesday\u2019s announcement that Robert Osbrink, executive vice president and chairman of transaction services, had left the firm and been replaced by firm’s COO, Jack Van Berkel. And three weeks ago, Triple Net Properties L.L.C., which is now under the Grubb & Ellis umbrella, was cleared in an investigation by the SEC.To Blog and Comment Click Here<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After the events of the past month, the leadership of Grubb & Ellis Co. may welcome some peace and quiet this summer. In what could be the capper in a series of personnel shufflings, former board chairman Anthony Thompson, who helped engineer a blockbuster merger with NNN Realty Advisors and is still the company’s second-largest…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1314,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37301],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1003821886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n