Star Equity Fund believes ‘significant change’ is needed to Gyrodyne’s board

Star Equity fund owns 6.7% of the common stock of Gyrodyne. It believes significant change to the Gyrodyne board of directors is needed NOW to create value for all shareholders. It has nominated two candidates for election to the Board, Hannah Bible and Matthew Sullivan, to act in the best interests of ALL shareholders. Star Equity said, “We believe the Board is utilizing underhanded tactics to try to thwart our director nomination…Stonewalling shareholder input has become a theme at Gyrodyne… We believe that the Company’s Board and management incentives are in obvious conflict with its duty to create value for all shareholders. Firstly, in our view the Board is incentivized to drag out the liquidation process of the Company’s Flowerfield and Cortlandt Manor properties… Secondly, the Board members and management earn an additional fee between 10% and 20% on gross proceeds in excess of the appraised values. Through prolonging the dissolution process, which has been in process for more than 10 years, the Board continues to collect their annual compensation while increasing the chances of obtaining a higher sale price and, thus, a higher bonus under the Bonus Plan, which ignores the time value of money to the detriment of NPV-minded shareholders… Based on the previous actions of the Board and the misalignment of their incentives, we have no confidence that Gyrodyne will complete its liquidation process by its stated year-end 2024 deadline… Star Equity Fund remains resolute in its opinion that a change in Board composition is vital to altering the corporate governance practices, changing the onerous compensation plans, and unlocking shareholder value at GYRO.”