Santa Ana-based Grubb & Ellis Co. said it will respond to former chairman Tony Thompson’s request for a board seat “in due course.”
Thompson, Grubb & Ellis’s second-largest shareholder, said on Thursday he’s unhappy with the real estate investor and brokerage’s performance and is seeking re-appointment to the company’s board.
Thompson stepped down from the board and his chairman seat early this year, after his former company, NNN Realty Advisors, acquired Grubb & Ellis in a reverse merger.
Grubb & Ellis’ stock has slumped since the acquisition. The company now counts a market value of about $250 million.
“The 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,” Glenn Carpenter, Grubb & Ellis’ current chairman, said in a statement responding to Thompson’s request.
Thompson said on Thursday that he hasn’t seen that much progress. 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,” he said in a regulatory filing.
Thompson started up a new real estate investment firm, Irvine-based Thompson National Properties LLC, a few months ago.
