Qualstar Claims Victory at Shareholders Meeting

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Qualstar Corp. said that preliminary results at Wednesday’s special shareholder meeting shows that dissident shareholder BKF Capital Group failed to replace the current board with its own slate of directors.

After the market closed, the Simi Valley maker of automated tape storage solutions and high efficiency power supplies said certified voting results are expected from an independent inspector within the next five days.

“We are pleased to have this disruption behind us so we can devote our full attention to the operation of our business and the execution of the turnaround plan,” said Chief Executive Lawrence Firestone, a Qualstar director who was appointed last month to succeed company co-founder William J. Gervais.

BKF Capital of Boca Raton, Fla., controls about 19 percent of Qualstar and is the second largest shareholder. It has been engaged in an increasingly bitter proxy war with management and the board over the company’s strategic direction and corporate governance.

In its own statement, BKF said that before voting had concluded, its representative had attempted to adjourn the meeting for two weeks because of what it called “issues” in properly tallying votes.

“The company refused to recognize BKF’s motion and challenged BKF to take legal action,” the company said, adding that the firm is considering its legal options.

Shares earlier close up 4 cents, or 2 percent, to $1.93 on the Nasdaq.