MRV Delays Shareholder Meeting Again as More Directors Resign

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MRV Communications Inc. on Thursday said it would further delay its annual meeting as two more board members announced they would resign, bringing the total of departing executives and directors in recent weeks to at least five.

The Chatsworth provider of optical communications network equipment and services said directors Joan Herman and Michael Keane had announced their intention to resign, effective Jan. 18. The departures leave four directors remaining on the eight-person board, according to its website.

Interim Chairman Philippe Tartavull and director Michael McConnell announced their resignations earlier this week. Chief Executive Dilip Singh, who was hired on a one-year contract in July 2010 to replace Noam Lotan, left the company last month. Chief Financial Officer Chris King currently serves as interim chief executive.

Unhappy with the company’s direction, a group of shareholders that includes two hedge fund managers has pushed for changes in board leadership and threatened to launch a proxy war unless the company gets out of some lines of business, returns money to shareholders and takes steps to get relisted on Nasdaq.

MRV, which on Monday delayed completing its annual shareholders’ meeting and said it planned to reconvene next Monday, now has delayed the meeting until Jan. 20 to give stockholders more time to consider the latest developments.

Shares of the company, which trade on the Pink Sheets, have dropped roughly 40 percent in the last few months. At midday Thursday, shares were unchanged at 92 cents.

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