Ramius pushes for election of its nominees to Datascope board on Dec. 20

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., Dec. 12 - Ramius Capital Group, LLC and its affiliates once again urged Datascope Corp. shareholders to vote for their two independent director nominees, David Dantzker and William J. Fox, to bring "accountability and transparency" to Datascope's board.

Dantzker is a general partner at Wheatley MedTech Partners, LP, and Fox is former executive chairman of the board of Nephros, Inc.

Datascope will hold its 2007 annual meeting on Dec. 20.

Ramius, in a letter to fellow shareholders, accused Datascope of trying to distort facts and mislead shareholders regarding the ethics investigations.

"Even more troubling is the company's refusal to disclose the name of the forensic accountants hired to assist the audit committee in its investigation of the alleged ethics violations," Ramius partner Mark R. Mitchell said in a news release.

"It appears that KPMG was engaged for this task, the same firm at which the chairman of the audit committee, James J. Loughlin spent his 40-year career."

According to Mitchell, "Loughlin classified this firm as having no material prior relationship with the company."

Ramius also noted that three key members of Datascope's senior management resigned shortly after the internal audit committee presented its report to the audit committee of the board.

It was previously reported that on Nov. 16 Datascope asked its shareholders to re-elect its nominees Loughlin and William L. Asmundson to the board.

Datascope is a Montvale, N.J., medical device company.

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