April 22, 2014 (Shareholders Foundation) - An investor in shares of Sothebys (NYSE:BID) filed a lawsuit against directors of Sothebys over alleged breaches of fiduciary duties.
The plaintiff claims that the defendants breached their fiduciary duties by adopting to a so called poison pill strategy to protect certain board members from being voted out. The plaintiff alleges that declining revenues of Sothebys in the past years prompted directors to take preemptive and responsive steps in the form of proxy puts in credit agreements as well as responsive defenses in the form of a poison pill to prevent NYSE:BID shareholders from acting. The plaintiff claims that while shareholders have the right to vote to remove poor performing directors proxy puts incorporated into debt agreements act as a financial punishment for attempting to vote to replace existing directors

Sothebys reported that its annual Total Revenue declined from $831.84 million in 2011 to $768.49 million in 2012. Shares of Sothebys (NYSE:BID) declined from over $40 per share in February 2012 to as low as under $30 per share in November 2012.

Sothebys reported that its annual Total Revenue rose from $768.49 million in 2012 to $853.68 million in 2013 and that its respective Net income increased from $108.29 million to $130.01 million. Shares of Sothebys (NYSE:BID) grew from $28.86 per share in November 2012 to as high as $53.51 per share in January 2014.

On April 22, 2014, NYSE:BID shares closed at $41.27 per share.