San Francisco, California, March 5th, 2025,
Chainwire
San Francisco, California, March 5th, 2025,
Chainwire
Announce Class Action Lawsuit to Ensure
Two Seats are Up For Election at the Annual Meeting
The Concerned Stockholders Strongly
Stand by their Nominations as Valid
Three stockholders of Ionic Digital Inc. (“Ionic Digital” or the
“Company”), Tony Vejseli, Chris Villinger, and Brett Perry
(collectively, the “Concerned Stockholders”) issue this statement
of clarification ahead of the election of directors to the Board of
Directors of the Company (the “Board”) at its upcoming annual
meeting of stockholders currently scheduled for March 17, 2025 (the
“Annual Meeting”).
On February 14, the Concerned Stockholders nominated Michael
Abbate and Oliver Wiener to the two Class I Board seats up for
election at the Annual Meeting. On February 24, Ionic Digital sent
proxy materials to stockholders suggesting that only one Class I
seat was open for election, for which Elizabeth LaPuma was the
Company’s nominee. On February 25, the Company subsequently
updated its website without a formal announcement that on February
6, 2025 the Board had resolved to reduce the number of Board seats
to 5, and the number of Class I seats to one. Although the Company
had received the nomination notice two weeks earlier, board
size reduction was not mentioned.
The Concerned Stockholders believe that this action constitutes
a breach of fiduciary duty by the Company’s directors and that the
resolution is invalid. Certain shareholders have filed a class
action
Complaint in the Delaware Court of Chancery to ensure
stockholders’ voices are heard. The Concerned Stockholders
assert that stockholders need greater representation and fresh
ideas. They believe TWO seats of the Board remain up for election
and encourage stockholders to vote for their TWO candidates, Mike
Abbate and Oliver Weiner, on the GOLD proxy card to fill the TWO
vacant seats up for election.
Further, on March 3, the Company issued a statement purporting
to reject the Concerned Stockholders’ Board nominations. The
Concerned Stockholders strongly stand by their nominations as
valid, as these nominations were made in full compliance with the
Company’s own bylaws, disclosed all requested agreements and
arrangements, provided everything the Company’s bylaws asked for
and voluntarily provided additional information. The Concerned
Stockholders believe this action limits stockholder choice in the
upcoming election. The Concerned Stockholders believe that the
nominations of Messrs. Abbate and Weiner remain valid and intend to
pursue the appropriate steps to preserve their rights, the validity
of their nominations and stockholder
votes.
The Concerned Stockholders believe that Messrs. Abbate and
Wiener will dedicate their efforts to advocate for the interests of
Company stockholders. The Concerned Stockholders Shareholders
encourage stockholders to vote for the TWO nominations on the GOLD
card at www.ionicvote.com.
The Concerned Stockholders are committed to a free and fair
election, where all Ionic Digital stockholders have a real choice
in who represents them in the boardroom.
The Concerned Stockholders suggest that other
stockholders NOT sign or vote any proxy cards received from the
Company. Only the latest-dated vote counts; if
stockholders have already voted the Company’s proxy card or
provided their vote to the Company’s proxy solicitor over the phone
or online, they may still vote on the Concerned Stockholders’ GOLD
proxy card. This will revoke a prior vote with the Company.
The Concerned Stockholders recommend voting only on the GOLD proxy
card to ensure stockholder support is properly counted.
This is the chance for stockholders to have their voices
heard!
About the Nominating Stockholders’
Nominees
Oliver Wiener is a Founder and Managing Partner of Kensington
Merchant Partners, an investment management and corporate
development advisory business focused on Financials, Fintech,
Insurance, Insuretech, and Blockchain verticals, and has over 20
years of financial and investment experience, with a focus on the
technology, blockchain, and fintech industries. Mr. Wiener
currently serves on the board of directors of Chain Bridge I, a
publicly-traded SPAC, and The National Security Group, Inc., an
insurance holding company. Mr. Wiener is a founding team member of
investment bank BTIG.
Michael Abbate currently serves as an advisor to Figure Markets
Holdings, Inc. (“Figure Markets”) and is a seasoned investor in the
bitcoin mining, AI data center, and energy infrastructure
industries. As a former Managing Partner of NovaWulf Digital
Management, LP, Mr. Abbate led the stalking horse bid in the
Celsius Network LLC bankruptcy and is intimately familiar with
Ionic Digital’s assets and the Company’s current business
structure. In addition, Mr. Abbate has over 20 years of experience
in complex corporate restructuring.
Contact
John Ferguson /Ann Marie
Mellone
Saratoga Proxy Consulting
LLC
info@saratogaproxy.com
(888) 368-0379 / (212)
257-1311