Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

Marcato Reveals in 13D It Has Amassed an Equal Stake to Third Point in Sotheby’s

March 19, 2015 by Marion Maneker

McGuire Sotheby's Financial Strategy Non-Existent
Mick McGuire isn’t giving up easily in his fight to have Sotheby’s release $500m in capital as it previously indicated it would. He continues to pursue his lawsuit to get access to some of former lead director Steven Dodge’s correspondence. He filed a 13D to that effect on Monday as the company was announcing its new Chairman and CEO. More to the point, the 13D shows that Marcato has added to its BID position and now owns stock in three funds amounting to 9.53% or as much as his former ally Daniel Loeb’s Third Point:

The Third Point Opening Brief is now largely unredacted and contains extensive quotations and discussions of the board communications that were produced during the underlying litigation. Sotheby’s, however, seeks the continued confidential treatment of selected communications regarding perspectives on board members and board dynamics that outgoing lead director Steven B. Dodge shared with incoming lead director Domenico De Sole (the “Dodge Memorandum”) and with Audit Committee Chair Dennis Weibling (the “Weibling Email”). The redacted material goes to the very heart of the parties’ dispute in this litigation – the conduct and competence of Sotheby’s board of directors in adopting a poison pill. The public has a right of access to such information. In its Motion, Sotheby’s has failed to make any particularized showing of harm necessary to maintain confidentiality. Sotheby’s has accordingly failed to sustain its burden under Rule 5.1 and its Motion should be denied.

Sotheby’s efforts to establish good cause suggest only that disclosure of the board members’ perspectives regarding board dynamics may embarrass or damage relations between members of Sotheby’s board of directors, despite the fact that the sentiments reflected are largely those of a member – Mr. Dodge – who has long since left the board. Delaware law is clear, however, that the prospects of “embarrassment will not suffice for continued Confidential Treatment.”

Form SC 13D/A SOTHEBYS Filed by: MARCATO CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LP.

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Chuck Close: Art as Compensation for DisabilitiesChuck Close: Art as Compensation for Disabilities
  • Loic Gouzer Follows in Philippe Ségalot’s FootstepsLoic Gouzer Follows in Philippe Ségalot’s Footsteps
  • Artelligence Podcast: Judd Tully on Armory WeekArtelligence Podcast: Judd Tully on Armory Week
  • Actor Discovers Guercino Then Takes Years to Authenticate and Restore ItActor Discovers Guercino Then Takes Years to Authenticate and Restore It
  • Grants v. Acquisitions at Rothschild FoundationGrants v. Acquisitions at Rothschild Foundation
  • Sotheby's American Paintings = $20,577,500Sotheby's American Paintings = $20,577,500

Filed Under: General

About Marion Maneker

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

Top Posts

  • Keith Haring’s 1989 Retrospect Comes to Sotheby’s London Prints Sale
  • Lost Lempicka Discovered at Sotheby's
  • $10 M. Picasso Portrait Unseen for Decades to Sell at Bonhams
  • Vienna Secession Painting, Long Thought to Be Lost, Sets a Record at Auction
  • Four of Picasso's Women Valued at $28m Come to Christie's from Rose-Walters Collection
  • Tony Podesta's Secret Art Buying
  • Roy Lichtenstein’s Top Ten Auction Prices
  • Collection of Texas Heiress Anne Marion Expected to Fetch $150 M. at Sotheby’s
  • Selection Bias In Art Is What Creates Value
  • Norman Rockwell's Not Gay. But Is He a Great Artist?
  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor