Dive Brief:

• Suspended Ammo Inc. Chief Strategy Officer Steven Urvan, as well as other members of The Urvan Group, are urging the ammunitions manufacturer to set a date for its shareholders meeting as the group continues with its bid to replace Ammo’s board, according to a Monday statement. Urvan Group has a 17.1% stake in the manufacturer, making it the firm’s top shareholder.
• Both Urvan and Susan Lokey — CFO of the manufacturer’s wholly-owned subsidiary GunBroker.com — were placed on administrative leave in September. Ammo Inc. suspended both executives from their duties, stating that it had “reason to believe” that they may have misappropriated the company’s data and digital assets and transmitted that data to a third party controlled by Urvan. The company also said that several weeks earlier it had begun an internal investigation into the “alleged misconduct.” 
• “Understandably, many shareholders have asked when the current Board intends to schedule the Company’s Annual Meeting,” Urvan wrote in the statement released Monday. “This is why the Urvan Group is offering to collaborate with the Board to set a fall 2022 date for the Annual Meeting, effectively ensuring shareholder democracy can play out in a timely manner.”

Dive Insight:

Urvan’s statement is the latest development in a battle over Ammo leadership that began between the ammunitions manufacturer and its top shareholder in August, following the manufacturer’s announcement that it would be splitting its business into two distinct segments.  

Urvan released a letter to shareholders a few weeks following the announcement of the split, detailing his intention to replace Ammo’s board. Urvan, prior to his suspension, served both as the company’s CSO as well as a member of its board.

Lokey, having served as GunBroker’s CFO following the online marketplace’s sale to Ammo Inc in April 2021, was also suspended by the manufacturer at the same time. Urvan originally served as CEO for the site prior to the sale.

“We disagree with many of the assertions and analysis contained in the public comments from Mr. Urvan and will be providing additional information for our shareholders in coming days and weeks,” Ammo Inc. wrote in an Aug. 29 statement in response to Urvan’s initial announcement to replace its board. “In the meantime, the Board and management team remain committed to ensuring AMMO is operated for the benefit of all its shareholders.”

Urvan in his statement Monday urged fellow shareholders to focus more on Ammo’s future leadership rather than what he alleges are “misleading claims” by the manufacturer surrounding his and Lokey’s suspension from executive duties.  

“Please trust that Susan Lokey and I have always conducted ourselves with integrity and held ourselves to the highest standards while working to create value for our customers and investors,” he said in his statement on Monday. “I am confident that our fellow shareholders will see through the misleading claims that were levied at us and focus on what really matters: choosing the most qualified directors to help pursue a value-enhancing transformation of AMMO.” 

The suspended CSO wrote that he remains “open to working with the board and its independent members to avoid an expensive and protracted contest,” and reminded such independent directors that they owe “fiduciary duties to AMMO shareholders.”

“These duties should not be compromised for insiders’ objectives or to effectuate any dilutive transaction that would serve solely to entrench present leadership,” he wrote.

Urvan also noted in his statement that since his group’s nomination of potential new candidates to the Ammo board, he had been “overwhelmed by the supportive feedback from fellow shareholders,” writing that other company shareholders have asked when the company’s present board will set a date for its shareholder meeting.

Ammo did not respond to requests for comment. Urvan Group did not immediately respond to requests for comment.