Crown Media Holdings, Inc., the parent of Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel, has postponed its annual meeting by one week to give shareholders a chance to consider supplemental information to its proxy statement.
The meeting, which had been on the calendar for July 23, is now scheduled for July 30 at 11 a.m. at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers.
The company said a Supplement No. 2 to the proxy statement will be made available to the stockholders on July 20 relative to a lawsuit against the recapitalization proposal by a Hallmark Cards affiliate and the engagement of a financial advisor by the special committee of the company's board of directors.
On May 28, Crown received a recapitalization proposal from its largest shareholder - Hallmark Cards - that swaps its $1.1 billion in debt for $500 million in loans and $550 million in preferred equity.
However, New York-based investment firm S. Muoio & Co., which owns about 5.8% of Crown stock, filed suit in Delaware Chancery Court on July 13, claiming that the restructuring will unfairly dilute minority shareholders practically into oblivion. Muoio is suing the entire 13-member Crown board of directors, new CEO William Abbott, Crown Media and several Hallmark entities, including Hallmark Entertainment and Hallmark Cards.
