Casablanca Capital Comments on Cliffs Natural Resources’ Acknowledgement That All Six Casablanca Director Nominees Have Been Elected to Board

2014-08-04 19:13 ET - News Release

NEW YORK -- (Business Wire)

Casablanca Capital LP, (“Casablanca”) the beneficial owner of approximately 5.2% of Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE:CLF) (“Cliffs”) shares, today issued the following statement regarding Cliffs’ acknowledgement that shareholders have elected all six of Casablanca’s nominees to the Company’s 11-member Board of Directors:

“We are pleased that Cliffs has acknowledged in its 8-K filing today that all six of Casablanca’s nominees have been elected to the Cliffs Board. This result marks a huge step forward for all Cliffs shareholders, as well as for the many talented employees at Cliffs who care about making Cliffs better and stronger. There is a clear desire for positive change at Cliffs, and we are gratified by the mandate shareholders have given the new Board to reinvigorate the Company and refocus its strategy to improve performance and restore value. We expect the results to be certified imminently and the new Board to convene promptly to go to work on that agenda.”

About Casablanca Capital LP

Casablanca Capital is an Event Driven and Activist investment manager based in New York, founded in 2010 by Donald G. Drapkin and Douglas Taylor. Casablanca invests in high quality but underperforming public companies that have multiple levers to unlock shareholder value. The firm seeks to engage with the management, Boards, and shareholders of those companies in a constructive dialogue in order to enhance shareholder value through improved operational efficiencies, strategic divestitures, capital structure optimization and increased corporate focus. In 2011, Casablanca successfully initiated a campaign at Mentor Graphics Corporation to improve profitability and enhance value at the company, working with shareholders to elect three nominees to Mentor’s Board.