DEF 14A of Strawberry Fields REIT, Inc.
Filed Apr 17, 20240001493152-24-014915
The Company
The Company The Company is a Maryland corporation formed in July 2019. The Company commenced operations on June 8, 2021, following the completion of the formation transactions described below. The Company conducts its business through a traditional UPREIT structure in which substantially all of its assets are owned by subsidiaries of Strawberry Fields Realty, LP, a Delaware limited partnership formed in July 2019 (the “Operating Partnership”). The Company is the general partner of the Operating Partnership. The Company completed the formation transactions on June 8, 2021. In connection with the formation transaction, the Company, the Operating Partnership and Strawberry Fields REIT, LLC (the “Predecessor Company”) entered into a contribution agreement, pursuant to which the Predecessor Company contributed all of its assets to the Operating Partnership, and the Operating Partnership assumed all of its liabilities. In exchange, the Operating Partnership issued limited partnership interests designated as common units (the “OP units”) to the Predecessor Company, which immediately distributed them to its members and beneficial owners. The Company offered certain of the holders of these OP units the opportunity to exchange their OP units for shares of Common Stock of the Company on a one-for-one basis. The Company limited the number of OP units that could be exchanged by some of the holders so that such holders would not become beneficial owners of more than 9.8% of the outstanding shares of the Company in violation of the ownership limitations set forth in the Company’s charter. The Company is currently the owner of approximately 12.6 % of the outstanding OP units as of December 31, 2023. The formation transactions were accounted for at historical cost. As the sole general partner of the Operating Partnership, the Company has the exclusive power under the partnership agreement to manage and conduct the business affairs of the Operating Partnership, subject to certain limited approval and voting rights of the limited partners. The Company may cause the Operating Partnership to issue additional OP units in connection with property acquisitions, compensation or otherwise. The Company became a publicly traded entity on September 21, 2022. As of the Record Date, the Company owned 97 properties and leased three properties that it in turn subleases to a tenant that operates the facility.
ELECTION OF DIRECTORS
ELECTION OF DIRECTORS The Company’s Board of Directors is currently comprised of five directors. A total of five directors will be elected at the Annual Meeting to serve until the next annual meeting of stockholders to be held in 2025, or until their successors are duly elected and qualified. Each of our current directors has been nominated for election by the Board. The persons named as “Proxies” in the enclosed Proxy will vote the shares represented by all valid returned proxies in accordance with the specifications of the stockholders returning such proxies. If no choice has been specified by a stockholder, the shares will be voted FOR the nominees. If at the time of the Annual Meeting any of the nominees named below should be unable or unwilling to serve, which event is not expected to occur, the discretionary authority provided in the Proxy will be exercised to vote for such substitute nominee or nominees, if any, as shall be designated by the Board of Directors. If a quorum is present and voting, the nominees for directors receiving the highest number of votes will be elected. Abstentions and broker non-votes will have no effect on the vote.
NOMINEES FOR ELECTION AS DIRECTOR
NOMINEES FOR ELECTION AS DIRECTOR
Nominees
Nominees The persons nominated as directors are as follows:
Nominees
| Name | Age | Position | | Moishe Gubin | 47 | Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer | | Essel Bailey | 79 | Director | | Michael Blisko | 48 | Director | | Jack Levine | 73 | Director | | Reid Shapiro | 53 | Director |
Nominees
The following sets forth certain information about each of the director nominees: Moishe Gubin has served as the Chief Executive Officer and as a director of the Company since its organization. He has served as the Company’s Chairman of the Board since June 2021. He has served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Predecessor Company since 2014 and as the Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of the BVI Company since 2015. From 2004 to 2014, Mr. Gubin was the Chief Financial Officer and a manager of Infinity Healthcare Management, LLC, a company engaged in managing skilled nursing facilities and other healthcare facilities. Mr. Gubin graduated from Touro Liberal Arts and Science College, in New York, New York, with a B.S. in Accounting and Information Systems and a Minor in Jewish Studies. Mr. Gubin is the founder of the Midwest Torah Center Inc., a non-profit spiritual outreach center (www.midwesttorah.org). He also attended Yeshiva Bais Israel where he received a B.A. in Talmudic Law. Mr. Gubin is a licensed certified public accountant in the State of New York. He also serves as a director of OptimumBank Holdings, Inc., a bank holding company based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Mr. Gubin was named as a director based on his substantial experience in acquiring, owning and operating skilled nursing facility industries and similar healthcare facilities. Essel Bailey has served as a director of the Company since June 2021. Mr. Bailey spent the last 50 years engaged in the public and private capital markets, first as a lawyer specializing in corporate and real estate finance and then as a senior officer or director of several healthcare companies. During the last 15 years, he has been a private investor in healthcare services and finance. From January 1992 to July 2000, he served as the chief executive officer of Omega Healthcare Investors, Inc., a NYSE listed REIT engaged in the ownership and leasing of healthcare properties, and from 1996 also at Omega Worldwide, Inc., a Nasdaq company engaged in ownership and leasing of healthcare properties in the United Kingdom and in Australia. He has previously served on the boards of Vitalink Pharmacy, Inc. (Nasdaq), Evergreen Healthcare, Inc. (Nasdaq) and NAREIT, the national trade association of real estate investment trusts. As a private investor, Mr. Bailey has served as an officer, director and stockholder of several private healthcare operating and finance companies, and has served on the boards of charitable organizations related to education and the environment. Mr. Bailey received his B.A. from Wesleyan University and his J.D. from University of Michigan Law School and is a member of the American Bar Association and the Michigan Bar Association. Mr. Bailey was named as a director based on his substantial experience in acquiring, owning and operating skilled nursing facilities and similar healthcare facilities. Michael Blisko has served as a director of the Company since June 2021. Mr. Blisko is the Chief Executive Officer for Infinity Healthcare Management. Mr. Blisko is a veteran of leading healthcare consultancy portfolios, as well as the architect in creating cutting edge leadership teams. Mr. Blisko has served as a board member of Strawberry Fields REIT, LLC, the Predecessor Company. Mr. Blisko is a principal for multiple ancillary companies including United Rx, a long-term pharmacy and Bella Monte Recovery, a behavioral health addiction center. Currently, Mr. Blisko is on, both, the National Executive Committee for Post-Acute Care and Survey Regulatory and Quality Committee for the American Healthcare Association (AHCA) in Washington D.C. Mr. Blisko founded and currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Ambassador Group which represents regional Post-Acute Operators serving over one hundred thousand residents throughout the country. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Optimum Bank (OPHC), a publicly traded bank based in Florida. Mr. Blisko is on the Deans Advisory Board for Hofstra University Graduate School for Health and Applied Sciences. Mr. Blisko is a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator with a master’s degree in healthcare administration from Hofstra University and a BA in Talmudic Law from Bais Yisroel, Jerusalem. Mr. Blisko was named as a director based on his substantial experience in acquiring, owning and operating skilled nursing facilities and similar healthcare facilities. Jack Levine is qualified as an SEC financial expert who has served as a director of the Company since June 2021. Mr. Levine is a certified public accountant who has provided financial and consulting services to private and public companies for over 35 years. Since 2019, he has served as Chairman of the Audit Committee for Blink Charging Co. (NASDAQ: BLNK), a leading owner, operator, and supplier of proprietary electric vehicle (“EV”) charging equipment and networked EV charging services. Since 2010, he has served as a board member and chairman of the audit committee of SignPath Pharma, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company. SignPath was a public reporting company prior to 2017. Mr. Levine also served as a chairman of the audit committee for Provista Diagnostics, Inc., a cancer detection and diagnostics company from 2011 to 2018. Mr. Levine has been a licensed CPA in Florida since 1983 and in New York since 2009. He received an M.A from New York University and B.A from Hunter College of City University of New York. Mr. Levine was named as a director based on his substantial experience on boards of public entities Reid Shapiro has served as a director of the Company since June 2021. Mr. Shapiro has been the owner of Shappy LLC, a company engaged in business consulting since 2014. From 1998 to 2014, he was a partner and co-founder of Elephant Group, Inc., a company engaged in the retail sale of electronic products which grew to approximately 120 locations. Mr. Shapiro was responsible for site selection for new stores, lease negotiations, build-out and retail management. Following the sale of this business to AT&T, Elephant Group transitioned to become DISH Network’s largest reseller of satellite television systems. It further diversified into the cable, telephone and home security businesses. As part of his duties at Elephant Group, Mr. Shapiro also served as the Chief Development Officer of Saveology.com, Inc., which operated a daily deal business on the internet. Mr. Shapiro has also served on the Florida Panthers NHL Advisory Board. Mr. Shapiro graduated from Yeshiva University in New York. Mr. Shapiro was named as a director based on his substantial experience in creating value for investors and entrepreneurial experience. The following sets forth certain information about our Executive Officers: Moishe Gubin serves as the Chief Executive Officer and as a director of the Company. Jeffrey Bajtner (39) has served as our Chief Investment Officer since March 2022. Jeffrey joined the Company in June 2021 to oversee all acquisition and disposition activity for our portfolio. Mr. Bajtner is also our Director of Investor Relations working with shareholders and prospective investors. From 2015 until joining the Company, Mr. Bajtner oversaw acquisitions and asset management at BlitzLake Partners, a Chicago based real estate developer of mixed-use properties. From 2012 to 2015, Mr. Bajtner worked with the asset management and capital market teams at NorthStar Realty Finance Corp. focusing on healthcare, multifamily and retail investments. Mr. Bajtner received a B.S. in Accounting & Finance from Yeshiva University in 2007. Lastly, Mr. Bajtner is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the State of Illinois.
Nominees
Greg Flamion (47) has served as our Chief Financial Officer since joining the Company in January 2024. Previously, Mr. Flamion was a CFO of Zimmerman Advertising, an agency under Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) from 2014-2023. Mr. Flamion also held a number of diverse accounting and finance positions at a variety of publicly traded companies, including Diageo (NYSE: DEO) and Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY). Mr. Flamion holds a degree in Economics from Purdue University and an MBA from the University of Florida. Lastly, Mr. Flamion is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the State of Indiana.
Required Vote
Required Vote Our Articles of Incorporation, as amended, do not authorize cumulative voting. Directors are to be elected by a plurality of the votes of the shares present in person or represented by proxy at the Annual Meeting and entitled to vote on the election of directors. This means that the five candidates receiving the highest number of affirmative votes at the Annual Meeting will be elected as directors. Only shares that are voted in favor of a particular nominee will be counted toward that nominee’s achievement of a plurality. Shares present at the Annual Meeting that are not voted for a particular nominee or shares present by proxy where the stockholder properly withheld authority to vote for such nominee will not be counted toward that nominee’s achievement of a plurality. At the Annual Meeting a vote will be taken on a proposal to approve the election of the five director nominees. RECOMMENDATION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS: THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE “FOR” THE ELECTION OF (I) MOISHE GUBIN, (II) ESSEL BAILEY, (III) MICHAEL BLISKO, (IV) JACK LEVINE, AND (V) REID SHAPIRO AS DIRECTORS.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Board of Directors
Board of Directors Our Articles of Incorporation, as amended, and bylaws provide that our Board of Directors will consist of such number of directors as may from time to time be fixed by our Board of Directors but may not less than the minimum number required under the Maryland General Corporation Law (“MGCL”), which is one, or more than 15. We currently have five directors. We believe that three of these directors meet the requirement to be independent under the standards of NYSE American and the Exchange Act.
Director Compensation
Director Compensation As compensation for serving on our Board of Directors, each of our independent directors receives an annual fee of $60,000. Directors who are also officers or employees of the Company do not receive any additional compensation as directors. In addition, we reimburse our directors for the reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred in attending Board of Directors and committee meetings. Our Board of Directors may change the compensation of our independent directors in its discretion.
Director Compensation
| Name of Director | Fees Earned or Paid in Cash | | Michael Blisko | $49,000 | | Jack Levine | $49,000 | | Essel Bailey | $49,000 | | Reid Shapiro | $49,000 |