NEW YORK, April 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- OnDeck®
(NYSE: ONDK), the leader in online lending to small business, today
announced that leading independent proxy advisory firm
Institutional Shareholder Services ("ISS") recommends that
shareholders vote "FOR" ALL of OnDeck's directors at its upcoming
Annual Meeting of Shareholders scheduled for May 7, 2020, in response to the withhold votes
campaign initiated by a lone shareholder during the current
pandemic crisis.1
OnDeck issued the following statement:
We welcome ISS's recommendation
that OnDeck shareholders vote "FOR" all of our highly qualified
director nominees at this critical moment in the Company's history.
We have also welcomed the feedback we have received from our
shareholders on the Company's governance and business strategy.
We are continuing to serve our
small business customers to help them manage through the impact of
COVID-19, while taking decisive actions to preserve liquidity,
mitigate losses and reduce operating expenses. The three directors
up for election this year – Noah
Breslow, Jane J. Thompson and
Ronald F. Verni – all have track
records of successfully navigating crises and a comprehensive
understanding of OnDeck's business - and are essential to OnDeck's
Board. We are pleased that ISS recognizes that a vote against these
highly qualified directors in the midst of a global pandemic would
be extremely disruptive and endanger the ability of OnDeck to
emerge from this crisis as a stronger company.
We strongly urge shareholders to
protect their investment by voting "FOR" OnDeck's nominees –
Noah Breslow, Jane J. Thompson and Ronald F. Verni.
As previously announced, OnDeck will release its financial
results for the first quarter of 2020 on April 30, 2020.
1 On April 17, 2020,
shareholder Voce Capital Management LLC issued a news release
announcing its intention to vote against three OnDeck Directors at
the Company's Annual Meeting on May 7
and urging other shareholders to do the same.
About OnDeck
OnDeck (NYSE: ONDK) is the proven leader in transparent and
responsible online lending to small business. Founded in 2006,
the company pioneered the use of data analytics and digital
technology to make real-time lending decisions and deliver capital
rapidly to small businesses online. Today, OnDeck offers a
wide range of term loans and lines of credit customized for the
needs of small business owners. The company also offers bank
clients a comprehensive technology and services platform that
facilitates online lending to small business customers through ODX,
a wholly owned subsidiary. OnDeck has provided over $13 billion in loans to customers in 700
different industries across the United
States, Canada and
Australia. The company has an A+
rating with the Better Business Bureau and is rated 5 stars by
Trustpilot. For more information, visit www.ondeck.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and
other legal authority. Forward-looking statements can be identified
by words such as "will," "enables," "targets," "expects,"
"intends," "may," "allows," "plans," "continues," "believes,"
"anticipates," "estimates" or similar expressions. These include
statements regarding the impact of global economic, political,
market, health and social events or conditions, including the
impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, macro-economic and other external
factors. They are based only on our current beliefs, expectations
and assumptions regarding the future of our business, anticipated
events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. As
such, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes
in circumstances that are difficult to predict and in many cases
outside our control. In particular, the consequences of the
COVID-19 outbreak to economic conditions and our industry in
general are changing rapidly and present material uncertainty with
respect to our financial position and operating results. Therefore,
you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Our
expected results may not be achieved, and actual results may differ
materially from our expectations.
Important factors that could cause or contribute to such
differences include risks relating to: (1) our ability to maintain
continuity and productivity in our business operations given our
transition to a remote workforce; (2) changes in our loan
originations volume, collections activities and our customers'
ability to repay amounts borrowed under our term loan, line of
credit or equipment finance products; (3) disruption and volatility
in the global capital markets which increases the cost of capital
and adversely impacts our access to capital from committed
facilities and lenders, and our ability to maintain adequate
liquidity; (4) recent and future changes to our underwriting
standards and other operating policies and procedures and whether
those changes work as intended; (5) the impact of the COVID-19
outbreak on our business partners, vendors and other third parties
and their ability to perform under contractual or other
arrangements; (6) our ability to estimate future performance of our
businesses, particularly over the near- to medium-term due to
uncertainty surrounding COVID-19; (7) the ability of our customers
to perform, including in making timely payments, due to disruptions
in their supply chains; (8) changes in our growth strategies or
strategic initiatives, including our ability to pursue a bank
charter, introduce new products or features, expand our platform to
other lenders through ODX, expand into international markets and
engage in business development activities; (9) our ability and
willingness to make repurchases of our common stock under our
previously announced share repurchase program; (10) worsening
economic conditions that may result in decreased demand for our
loans or services and increase our customers' default rates; (11)
supply and demand driven changes in credit and increases in the
availability of capital for our competitors that negatively impacts
our loan pricing; (12) our ability to accurately assess
creditworthiness and forecast and reserve for loan losses given the
dynamic environment and our recent adoption of CECL; (13) the
effectiveness of our efforts to identify, manage and mitigate our
credit, market, liquidity, operational and other risks associated
with our business and strategic objectives; (14) our reputation and
possible adverse publicity about us or our industry, including
actions we have taken or may take in response to the COVID-19
outbreak; (15) changes in federal or state laws or regulations, or
judicial decisions, or other significant changes, including those
related to the COVID-19 outbreak; and other risks, including those
described in Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors in our Annual Report on
From 10-K for the year ended December 31,
2019, and other documents that we file with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, or SEC, from time to time which are or
will be available on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.
Additional Information
In connection with the solicitation of proxies for OnDeck's 2020
annual meeting of shareholders, OnDeck has filed with the SEC a
definitive proxy statement and an accompanying proxy card.
SHAREHOLDERS OF ONDECK ARE STRONGLY URGED TO READ THE DEFINITIVE
PROXY STATEMENT (AND ANY AMENDMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTS THERETO), AND
ACCOMPANYING PROXY CARD AS THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION.
Shareholders may obtain the proxy statement, any amendments or
supplements to the proxy statement and other documents as and when
filed by OnDeck with the SEC without charge from the SEC's website
at www.sec.gov or OnDeck's Investor Relations website
at investors.ondeck.com.
Participants in the Solicitation
OnDeck, its directors and its executive officers may be deemed to
be participants in the solicitation of proxies of OnDeck's
shareholders in connection with the matters to be considered at its
2020 annual meeting of shareholders. Information regarding the
identity of potential participants, and their direct or indirect
interests, by security holdings or otherwise, is set forth in the
proxy statement and other materials filed with the SEC. These
documents can be obtained free of charge from the sources
indicated above.
OnDeck, the OnDeck logo, OnDeck Score, ODX and OnDeck
Marketplace are trademarks of On Deck Capital, Inc. or its
subsidiaries.
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SOURCE On Deck Capital, Inc.