Children’s Place urges rejection of Dabah nominees

New York City The Children's Place Retail Stores Thursday issued an open letter to stockholders urging them to elect the company's independent incumbent directors and vote against a slate of board nominees put up by former chief executive Ezra Dabah.

Dabah, who was ousted from his post in 2007, nominated three candidates for positions on the board. He is a board member himself, as is his father-in-law, and is the company's largest shareholder with a 16.6% stake.

The letter highlighted what it called Dabah's “flip-flops on central issues in the current proxy contest. It noted that while Dabah insists he is not seeking control of the board, the election of his three hand-picked nominees would result in his designation of five of nine directors, or the majority of the board.

Dabah has criticized the current directors for the company's recent sales performance, and said he was concerned about the company's failure to plan for the future.