ALOT News & Events

AstroNova announced that the board of directors has promoted Jorik Ittmann to president and CEO and appointed him to the board of directors, both to be effective as of August 15. Along with the selection of Ittmann as CEO, Darius Nevin will move to being executive chairman. Ittmann joined AstroNova in September 2024 as VP of commercial operations for the product identification segment.

AstroNova (ALOT) announced that Darius Nevin, a member of the AstroNova board of directors, has been appointed as interim president and CEO, effective June 29. The board will initiate a search for a successor to former president and CEO, Gregory Woods, who resigned from the role. The search will evaluate both internal and external candidates. In addition to relinquishing his role as president and CEO, Woods also resigned from AstroNova's board of directors.

AstroNova's board of directors issued a statement which states, among other things: "the total failure on Samir Patel's and Askeladden's part to participate in efforts to come to a collaborative and amicable solution..Samir Patel agreed with Richard S. Warzala, Lead Independent Director of AstroNova, that the content of their conversations would not be made public. He violated that confidence with his recent news release by publishing selected portions of the content of the conversations...Samir Patel violated the agreement that the content of the conversations between himself and AstroNova's Lead Independent Director were confidential...Samir Patel failed to offer any proposal of settlement...Samir Patel exposed his lack of understanding regarding corporate governance...no appreciation of director fiduciary obligations to all shareholders...no understanding of the definition of an independent director...no understanding of SEC rules...which makes him unsuitable and unqualified to serve on AstroNova's Board of Directors. We urge Shareholders to vote for AstroNova's six highly qualified director nominees."

In a letter to AstroNova shareholders, Samir Patel of Askeladden Capital said, "Yesterday evening, we thought we were participating in confidential negotiations with AstroNova aimed at reaching a collaborative solution to the ongoing proxy contest. This morning, AstroNova blindsided us with a news release publicly mischaracterizing those talks, thereby violating our agreement to keep our discussions private, and severely undermining the prospect of continued engagement. We already knew that AstroNova's Board could not be trusted to deliver shareholder value; now we know they cannot be trusted to keep their word. Sadly, we must also now share revealing details from an exchange that we were promised would remain private. Following a call with Mr. Warzala last week, we invited the company to propose a solution. Mr. Warzala sent an egregiously one-sided proposal that would entrench the current Board while silencing our ability to advocate for shareholders. The company proposed we sign a standstill agreement in exchange for: No Board representation; Mr. Woods leaving the Board but remaining CEO; Askeladden attending a single Board meeting as an observer, with no voting rights No sane professional investor would agree to such terms. They would restrict our ability to trade or speak freely, yet offer no corresponding ability to influence company decisions. The Board wanted our silence - not our input. We told Mr. Warzala that we remained 'happy to further discuss these topics' and 'hope we can continue to have mutually beneficial dialogue,' but warned that 'in the absence of a proposal that demonstrates the Board is committed to making [...] substantial changes [...] we'd much rather let shareholders decide who best represents their interests.' We also reiterated concrete steps that could safeguard shareholder interests, such as hiring a proven print industry executive or initiating a strategic alternatives process, yet Mr. Warzala showed no interest in exploring these ideas. We intended to respond to Mr. Warzala's latest email this morning. Instead, the company rushed to issue a news release - shutting off dialogue before we even had a chance to reply in detail. AstroNova abandoned any effort to engage when we provided candid feedback on the inadequacy of their initial proposal. Once again, the company seems more concerned with scoring PR points than with resolving shareholder concerns. This mirrors their prior conduct - demanding a call on an hour's notice after months of ignoring us, then claiming we were reluctant to engage...We urge shareholders to vote to elect directors who truly care about rapidly maximizing shareholder value."