2011 mid-year shareholder activism update

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    COMMENTARY

    Many shareholder activism experts, public company executives, board members and activist investors expected shareholder activismto surge once again in 2011. With growing support from pension funds, a burgeoning M&A environment, excessive cash on

    companies balance sheets, and a slew of new corporate governance reforms coming out of Washington, most factors were certainly

    pointing in that direction.

    Thus far, the era of Dodd-Frank reform has yielded no such result. By contrast, according to data compiled from Hedge Fund

    Solutions weekly research on activist investing [Catalyst Equity Research Report], activism is actually down for the first 5 months of2011 compared to that of 2010. Within the referenced period, the number of companies targeted by activists has fallen 15% to 142 so

    far this year.

    While it is clear that shareholder activism has fallen, there remains a lack of credible explanation for this. For one, it could very wellbe that the corporate governance reforms enacted and pending were over-hyped. It could also be that stock volatility and concerns

    about the economy have made investors wary about getting involved in multi-year investment campaigns.

    Whatever it may be, one should certainly not dismiss 2011 as an uneventful year for activism. Indeed when we look beyond thecontested elections that culminated in a shareholder vote, we see that much more is happening behind the scenes than what is upfront

    and apparent. 2011 should be seen as the year that activism moved further away from the public limelight and inside the boardroom.Although 25 campaigns concluded with a shareholder vote so far (12 of these involved dissidents seeking board representation), 27

    concluded with a settlement agreement between the activist and board of directors of the target company. In our opinion, this is a signthat both sides have become more adept at managing shareholder activism, knowing when best to concede, negotiate or fight.

    166

    142

    137

    93

    0

    20

    40

    60

    80

    100

    120

    140

    160

    180

    2010 2011

    NumberofTargetsandActivists

    5MonthsEndingJune1

    Targets

    Activists

    65

    27 25

    10

    0

    10

    20

    30

    40

    50

    60

    70

    Current

    Campaigns

    Settlements Shareholder

    Vote

    Withdrawn

    2011ActivistCampaigns

    January1,2011-June1,2011

    Targets

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    Note: In general, this data reflects shareholder demands and binding shareholder proposals from investors owning at least 5% of a target companys stock.This data does not include non-binding shareholder proposals such as say-on-pay, majority voting, board de-classification and poison pills.

    MostActiveActivistInvestors

    January1,2011June1,2011

    1. BulldogInvestors 9CompaniesTargeted(InvestmentFocus:Closed-EndFunds)

    2. JosephStilwell8Companies(InvestmentFocus:Thrifts/Banks)

    3. DiscoveryCapital7CompaniesTargeted4. FinancialEdge/PLCapital 6Companies

    (InvestmentFocus:Thrifts/Banks)

    5. CarlIcahn5CompaniesTargeted6. StarboardValue4CompaniesTargeted

    (FormerlyRamiusCapital)

    7. WesternInvestment 4Companies(InvestmentFocus:Closed-EndFunds)

    8. ElliottAdvisors3Companies9. LawrenceSeidman3Companies10. NormanPessin3Companies

    52

    17

    26

    69

    14

    BreakdownofActivistDemands

    January1,2011-June1,2011

    M&A

    Operational

    Financial

    Governance

    NotDisclosed

    9

    16

    27

    0

    5

    10

    15

    20

    25

    30

    ActivistWins ManagementWins Settlements

    ShareholderVoteResultsComparedtoSettlements

    January1,2011-June1,2011

    ShareholderVote

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    Target Ticker Market Cap Activist(s) Ownership Demand Meeting Date Outcome

    2011 Activist Campaigns Ending in a Shareholder Vote (as of June 1, 2011)

    Myers Industries, Inc. MYE $343M GAMCO Investors 10.10%Elect 2 GAMCO representatives to

    board April 29, 2011All nine of management's nominees

    were elected

    NovaMed Inc. NOVA$105M

    (Taken Private)HealthInvest Partners 5.10%

    Reject $13.25/share buyout from

    Surgery Center Holdings

    Special meeting on

    May 4, 2011

    Activist defeated; company merger

    approved

    Opti Inc. OPTI.OB $22M S. Muoio & Co 28.25% Elect 1 Director May 23, 2011Activist defeated; activist challenging

    results

    Pulse Electronics PULS $192M Bel Fuse Inc. 1%Elect 2 Bel Fuse representatives;

    sell Company to Bel FuseMay 18, 2011 Dissident defeated

    Red Robin Gourmet Burgers RRGB $555M Clinton Group; Spotlight Advisors 9.73%

    Remove the poison pill and pledge

    not to adopt another one without

    shareholder support; explore

    strategic alternatives

    May 26, 2011Poison pill removed; board

    declassified

    Singapore Fund SGF $139M City of London Investment Group 24.85%

    Terminate investment advisory

    agreement between the Fund and

    Daiwa SB Investments

    June 2, 2011Investment advisory agreement

    terminated

    Smurfit-Stone Container Corp SSCC$3.6B

    (Taken Private)

    Third Point; Monarch Alternative

    Capital; Royal Capital8.97%

    Opposed Rock-Tenn buyout offer

    equal to 50% cash ($17.50/share)

    and 50% stock (0.0365/RKT

    shares)

    Special meeting on

    June 2, 2011

    Activist defeated; company merger

    approved

    United PanAm Financial Corp. UPFC.PK $107M Lawndale Capital NAOppose $7.05 Management-led

    buyout

    Special meeting on

    February 24, 2011

    Activist defeated; company merger

    approved

    Zoran Corp. ZRAN $393M Ramius Capital 9.30% Elect 6 Ramius representatives

    Special Meeting on

    March 11, 2011

    Ramius received enough written

    consents to replace 3 board membersat ZRAN

    Shareholder Vote

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    Target Ticker Activist(s) Ownership Demand Withdrawl Date Reason for Withdrawl

    Advanced Analogic Technologies,Inc. AATI Dialectic Capital 6.10% Support merger with Skyworks Solutions; elect 2individuals to 7-member board May 26, 2011 AATI announced merger with Skyworks Solutions

    Celera Corp. CRABiotechnology Value

    Fund24.50%

    Reconstruct proposed merger to carve out non-

    strategic drug royalties or raise purchasing price

    per share

    May 17, 2011 Celera merged with Quest Diagnostics

    Charles River Laboratories

    InternationalCRL

    Relational Investors;

    CalSTRS6.01%

    Form a Strategic Planning and Capital Allocation

    Committee; explore strategic alternatives,

    including a sale

    January 25, 2011

    2 new directors nominated by management; company

    formed a strategic planning and capital allocation

    committee

    Immersion Corp. IMMR Ramius Capital 5.90% Elect 3 Ramius representatives March 11, 2011IMMR reached a settlement agreement with Dialectic

    Capital and nominated 2 Dialectic representatives

    McCormick & Schmick's SeafoodRestaurants Inc. MSSR Landry's Restaurants 10.10% Sought to acquire company for $9.25/share incash; May 4, 2011 Company initia ted a sale process

    Matrixx Initiatives MTXX BML Investment Partners 9.90% Sell to HIG Capital at least at $8.75/share February 18, 2011 Taken private by HIG Capital for $8.75/share

    Matrixx Initiatives MTXX Porter Orlin 12.40% $8/share sale to HIG Capital undervalues MTXX February 18, 2011 Taken private by HIG Capital for $8.75/share

    Tessco Technologies Inc. TESS Discovery Group 13.50% A majority vote standard in uncontested elections April 25, 2011

    On 25-Apr-11, the board approved a bylaw

    amendment stipulating a majority vote standard in

    uncontested elections

    Tenet Healthcare Corporation THCCommunity Health

    Systems