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Liberation Group to Nominate Directors for InterTA

By Staff Writer

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LOS ANGELES (HedgeWorld.com)–Two hedge funds managed by the Liberation Investment Group LLC announced that they would nominate two candidates for the board of directors of

InterTAN Inc, Barrie, Ontario, at its 2003 annual meeting. There are five seats on the board.

InterTAN is a consumer electronic retailer, and the Liberation group (Liberation Investment Group LP and Liberation Investments Ltd.) owns approximately 5.2% of the company’s outstanding shares.

“If elected to the InterTAN board, subject to their fiduciary duties to all shareholders, Messrs. Hillman and Kornstein are expected to urge the board to pursue a strategy to maximize shareholder value,” according to a Liberation Group statement. “Such a strategy could involve, among other things, an extraordinary transaction, such as a sale of the company’s business or a conversion of the company to a Canadian income trust.”

InterTAN came into being in 1986, when Tandy Corp. spun off its Canadian operations. It operates a network of approximately 500 RadioShack stores, 360 RadioShack dealers, 60 stores under the Rogers AT&T banner and 44 under that of Battery Plus. Its stock price was above US$10 a year ago. It fell to US$4.50 by the end of March 2003 but has since recovered, closing Aug. 12 at close to US$9.

The principal of the Liberation funds is Emanuel R. Pearlman, who has had a reputation for an active shareholder style of investment at least since litigation in the mid-1990s involving Healthco International Inc.

His filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Aug. 12 said that his two nominees to the board would be Lee Hillman and Don R. Kornstein. Both nominees are limited partners of Liberations Investments LP. Mr. Hillman was the president and chief executive of Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp., from October 1996 to December 2002. For the latter two years of that tenure, he was also Bally’s chairman of the board.

Mr. Kornstein is the founder and chief executive of Alpine Advisers LLP, a strategic management and financial consulting firm, and has held that position since March 2002. He is also a director of the board of gaming equipment supply company, Shuffle Master Inc., and is on the audit, compensation and governance committees of Shuffle Master.

Officials of InterTAN could not be reached for comment, but the company has an open conference call scheduled for Aug. 14, when the prospect of a proxy fight is bound to be discussed.

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