PITTSFORD, N.Y., June 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Karpus
Investment Management announced today its opposition to the
proposed merger of the Madison Strategic Sector Premium Fund (NYSE:
MSP) ("MSP") with and into the Madison Covered Call & Equity
Strategy Fund (NYSE: MCN) ("MCN" and together with MSP, the
"Funds"). On May 24, 2017, the Funds
issued a press release announcing that the Board of Trustees of
each Fund approved the proposed merger.
"The proposed merger is clearly not a solution that best serves
shareholders' interests. It is dilutive to MSP shareholders'
ownership and greatly benefits Madison Asset Management by
maximizing fee revenues. Shareholders of MSP voted last year to
receive full value for their shares but the Board chose to ignore
them. Now, the Board is reinstating a proposal that they introduced
last year and subsequently cancelled," stated Brett D. Gardner, Senior Corporate Governance
Analyst at Karpus Investment Management.
Gardner further stated, "This is precisely why we submitted
trustee nominees for both Funds. It is also why we submitted a
14a-8 shareholder proposal to terminate the investment adviser as
well as an additional proposal requesting that each Fund's Board
promptly consider authorizing a self-tender offer for all
outstanding common shares of each Fund at or close to net asset
value. Since shareholders approved the non-binding proposal at
MSP's 2016 Annual Meeting and MSP's sister fund, MCN, is comprised
of three trustees that all serve on MSP's Board, we believe Madison
must be terminated and new, independent trustees must be elected to
enhance shareholder value. As evidenced by the Funds' recent merger
press release, the Boards of MSP and MCN appear more interested in
the bottom line of the investment adviser, as opposed to listening
to shareholders and maximizing shareholder value."
He concluded, "Because of this, we believe the time has come to
elect new trustees, allow shareholders to realize close to full
value for their shares, and to terminate Madison Asset Management
as the Funds' adviser."
Karpus Investment Management is an independent, registered
investment advisory firm founded in 1986. It is based
in Pittsford, NY and practices conservative money
management with approximately $3 billion in assets under
management. It is among the largest shareholders in both MSP and
MCN owning over 1.3 million shares of MSP and over 2 million shares
of MCN.
CERTAIN INFORMATION CONCERNING THE
PARTICIPANTS
Karpus Investment Management Profit Sharing Plan Fund C – Growth
Common Stock Fund, together with the other participants named
herein (collectively, "Karpus"), intends to (i) file a preliminary
proxy statement and an accompanying proxy card with the Securities
and Exchange Commission ("SEC") to be used to solicit votes for the
election of its nominees and certain business proposals at the 2017
annual meeting of shareholders (the "MCN Annual Meeting") of
Madison Covered Call & Equity Strategy Fund, a Delaware statutory trust ("MCN") and (ii) file
a preliminary proxy statement and an accompanying proxy card with
the SEC to be used to solicit votes for the election of its
nominees and certain business proposals at the 2017 annual meeting
of shareholders (the "MSP Annual Meeting") of Madison Strategic
Sector Premium Fund, a Delaware
statutory trust ("MSP" and together with MCN, the "Funds").
The participants in the proxy solicitation at MCN are Karpus
Investment Management Profit Sharing Plan Fund C – Growth Common
Stock Fund, a trust organized under the laws of the State of New York ("Karpus Fund"), Karpus
Management, Inc., a New York
corporation ("Karpus Management"), George
W. Karpus, and Arthur Charles
Regan. The participants in the proxy solicitation at MSP are
Karpus Fund, Karpus Management, George W.
Karpus, Arthur Charles Regan,
and Dr. Daniel C. Robeson.
KARPUS STRONGLY ADVISES ALL SHAREHOLDERS OF THE FUNDS TO READ
THE RESPECTIVE PROXY STATEMENT AND OTHER PROXY MATERIALS AS THEY
BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION.
SUCH PROXY MATERIALS AND OTHER PROXY MATERIALS WITH RESPECT TO MCN
AND MSP, WHEN FILED, WILL BE AVAILABLE AT NO CHARGE ON THE SEC'S
WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.SEC.GOV. IN ADDITION, THE PARTICIPANTS IN
THE PROXY SOLICITATIONS WILL PROVIDE COPIES OF THE RESPECTIVE PROXY
STATEMENT WITHOUT CHARGE, WHEN AVAILABLE, UPON REQUEST.
As of the date hereof, Karpus Fund beneficially owned 27,385
shares of Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share of MCN (the "MCN Common Stock").
As of the date hereof, Karpus Management beneficially owned
2,096,232 shares of MCN Common Stock. As of the date hereof, Mr.
Karpus, as the President and CEO of Karpus Management, may be
deemed the beneficial owner of 119,635 shares of MCN Common Stock,
consisting of (i) 13,000 shares of MCN Common Stock owned in the
aggregate by The Karpus Family Foundation, Inc, (ii) 5,450 shares
of MCN Common Stock held by the George W. Karpus IRA Rollover,
(iii) 27,385 shares of MCN Common Stock held by the Karpus Fund and
(iv) 2,300 shares of MCN Common Stock held by the Karpus Investment
Management Defined Benefit Plan. As of the date hereof, Mr. Regan
did not beneficially own any shares of MCN Common Stock.
As of the date hereof, Karpus Fund beneficially owned 13,300
shares of Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share of MSP (the "MSP Common Stock").
As of the date hereof, Karpus Management beneficially owned
1,398,438 shares of MSP Common Stock. As of the date hereof, Mr.
Karpus, as the President and CEO of Karpus Management, may be
deemed the beneficial owner of 16,450 shares of MSP Common Stock,
consisting of (i) 3,150 shares of MSP Common Stock owned in the
aggregate by The Karpus Family Foundation, Inc and (ii) 13,300
shares of MSP Common Stock held by the Karpus Fund. As of the date
hereof, Messrs. Regan and Robeson did not beneficially own any
shares of MSP Common Stock.
Karpus Investment Management
Contact:
Artie Regan
Regan & Associates, Inc.
(212) 587-3005 (phone)
(212) 587-3006 (fax)
info@reganproxy.com
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SOURCE Karpus Investment Management