NEW YORK, July 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Western Investment
LLC ("Western Investment") criticized the continued delay by
TS&W / Claymore Tax-Advantaged Balanced Fund (NYSE: TYW) and
Guggenheim Partners, LLC in failing to schedule TYW's 2011 annual
meeting of shareholders. Western Investment, together with
its affiliates, is TYW's largest shareholder, owning approximately
7.1% of the outstanding shares of TYW.
Arthur D. Lipson, managing member
of Western Investment, stated, "We have become increasingly
frustrated with the stall tactics currently being employed by
Guggenheim and TYW with respect to TYW's delayed 2011 annual
meeting of shareholders. TYW last held a meeting of
shareholders in July 2010. One
year later with TYW at a clear crossroads, shareholders are being
kept in the dark regarding the 2011 annual meeting and TYW's
future."
Mr. Lipson continued, "We are extremely concerned by this
silence given the Board of Trustees' unfortunate record of ignoring
the will of shareholders. At TYW's 2010 annual meeting of
shareholders, a majority of shareholders voted to elect one of
Western Investment's nominees to the Board. TYW ignored this
vote and the election of Western Investment's nominee was blocked
by a shareholder unfriendly TYW bylaw that protects incumbent
trustees. TYW also failed to implement Western Investment's
proposal to declassify the Board despite shareholder approval of
the proposal by a nearly two-to-one margin."
Mr. Lipson continued, "In mid-April
2011, TYW delivered a letter to shareholders announcing that
the Board had approved 'in principle the conversion of [TYW] into
an open-end mutual fund.' Following this announcement, TYW
maintained complete silence with respect to its plans moving
forward until suddenly announcing last month that the plan to
open-end was no longer under consideration. Instead,
shareholders must be prepared for TYW to pursue any one of a number
of 'other possible courses of action' being considered by the
Board, which have not been disclosed."
Mr. Lipson continued, "The Board's inexcusable failure to
present a comprehensive solution to shareholders, highlighted by
its extremely troubling announcement that it is
continuing 'to evaluate other possible courses of
action' even after wasting untold shareholder assets pursuing its
ill-conceived plan to open-end, combined with its failure to act on
the shareholder mandate delivered at the 2010 annual meeting and
its continued delay of the 2011 annual meeting, are why we have
nominated four highly qualified individuals for election at the
2011 annual meeting. We believe that our highly qualified,
independent nominees possess the skill sets necessary to address
TYW's current needs and that they will work towards a solution that
provides maximum value for all shareholders."
Mr. Lipson concluded, "We once again call on TYW to
promptly hold its 2011 annual meeting. It is imperative that
TYW shareholders, TYW's true owners, decide who will guide TYW
moving forward. Based on this Board's shareholder unfriendly
track record, we strongly believe that it is our nominees, not the
current Board, who will provide shareholders of TYW with the best
chance of maximizing shareholder value."
Despite the common practice of maintaining an open dialogue with
large shareholders, to date there has been no response from
Kevin M. Robinson, TYW's Chief
Executive and Legal Officer, to repeated phone calls from Mr.
Lipson.
CONTACT: Arthur D. Lipson, (801) 568-1400
CERTAIN INFORMATION CONCERNING PARTICIPANTS
Western Investment LLC ("Western Investment"), together with the
other Participants (as defined below) named herein, intends to make
a preliminary filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(the "SEC") of a proxy statement and accompanying proxy card to be
used at the 2011 annual meeting of shareholders of TS&W /
Claymore Tax-Advantaged Balanced Fund, a Delaware statutory trust (the "Fund").
WESTERN INVESTMENT STRONGLY ADVISES ALL SHAREHOLDERS OF THE FUND
TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT AND OTHER PROXY MATERIALS AS THEY
BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION.
SUCH PROXY MATERIALS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT NO CHARGE ON THE
SEC'S WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.SEC.GOV. IN ADDITION, THE
PARTICIPANTS IN THE SOLICITATION WILL PROVIDE COPIES OF DEFINITIVE
PROXY MATERIALS, WITHOUT CHARGE, UPON REQUEST.
The participants in the solicitation are anticipated to be
Western Investment, Western Investment Hedged Partners L.P.
("WIHP"), Western Investment Total Return Partners L.P. ("WITRP"),
Western Investment Activism Partners LLC ("WIAP"), Western
Investment Total Return Fund Ltd. ("WITRL," and together with
Western Investment, WIHP, WIAP and WITRP, the "Western Funds"),
Arthur D. Lipson, Benchmark Plus
Institutional Partners, L.L.C. ("BPIP"), Benchmark Plus Partners,
L.L.C. ("BPP"), Benchmark Plus Management, L.L.C., Scott Franzblau, Robert
Ferguson, Neil Chelo,
Simon A. Lack, James R. Merchant and Richard A. Rappaport.
As of the date hereof, the Participants collectively own an
aggregate of 1,591,675.5562 shares of Common Stock of the Fund,
consisting of the following: (1) 406 shares owned directly by
Western Investment, (2) 369,136.5562 shares owned directly by WIHP,
(3) 279,877 shares owned directly by WIAP, (4) 448,754 shares owned
directly by WITRP, (5) 405,966 shares owned directly by BPIP and
(6) 87,536 shares owned directly by BPP.
SOURCE Western Investment LLC