Largest Shareholder Sends Letter to New Board Member of Immersion Corporation

NEW YORK, June 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Ramius Value and Opportunity Advisors LLC, a subsidiary of Ramius LLC (collectively, "Ramius"), today announced that it delivered a letter to Mr. David Sugishita, the newly elected director of Immersion Corporation ("Immersion") (Nasdaq: IMMR).

The full text of the letter follows:

Dear David:

As you may know, Ramius Value and Opportunity Advisors LLC, a subsidiary of Ramius LLC, and certain of its affiliates (collectively, "Ramius") is the largest shareholder of Immersion Corporation ("IMMR" or the "Company") with current ownership of 14.6% of the shares outstanding.  The past nine months have been extremely frustrating.  We have tried repeatedly to engage in constructive dialogue with management and the Board of Directors (the "Board") regarding our continued concern with the composition of the Board, highlighting key issues including the lack of direct shareholder representation and the lack of direct expertise in IP licensing and litigation.  These concerns have gone unanswered.

You are joining the Board of Immersion at a critical juncture for the Company.  Immersion has dramatically underperformed, losing over half of its market value in just the past three years.  The current Board has overseen the Company through the hiring and firing of a disastrous CEO, a lengthy and expensive accounting investigation, as well as an ill-conceived venture into medical simulation products.  These missteps cost shareholders over $70 million of capital over the past three years.  

As you likely know, we have shared our concerns with the Board regarding your close ties to the Chairman of Immersion, Jack Saltich.   We hope our concerns are unfounded and that you will push for changes that will benefit all shareholders.  At the recent annual meeting, only 27% of shares outstanding voted to support your appointment to the Board.  This is an extremely low percentage, particularly for newly nominated directors.  In fairness, this is only in part a reflection of your qualifications as a director, but also a referendum on the incumbent members of the Board who were not up for election at this year's annual meeting.  It should be absolutely clear that shareholders are displeased with the performance of the Immersion Board.  In our opinion, further change to the Board, in consultation with the Company's largest shareholders, is warranted.  We would hope and expect that you will take the shareholder message seriously and work with extreme diligence to earn the trust and confidence of all Immersion shareholders.

There is still substantial work to be done to realize Immersion's full potential in order to maximize shareholder value.  In the next twelve months, we expect the Board to oversee the implementation of additional cost containment initiatives to ensure improving profitability.  We also expect the Board to take action with respect to the realization of value from the vast intellectual property portfolio.  We expect for you, as the newest member of the Board, to challenge management and the other Board members and ensure that the mistakes of the past are not repeated.  

We remain open-minded to having a constructive dialogue with management and the Board and would welcome the opportunity to speak with you directly.

About Ramius LLC

Ramius LLC is a registered investment advisor that manages assets in a variety of alternative investment strategies. Ramius LLC is headquartered in New York with offices located in London, Luxembourg, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Munich.

SOURCE Ramius LLC