One of the four billboard messages calling attention to Medalist’s performance. (BizSense file photos)
An investor’s campaign against the leadership of a publicly traded Richmond-based real estate firm has become more publicly visible.
Billboard ads are now running along I-195, alerting passersby of the lagging stock price of Medalist Diversified REIT, a downtown firm that’s seen its shares lose more than 90 percent of their value since Medalist’s debut on Nasdaq in 2018.
Behind the billboard campaign is Jon Wheeler, a real estate investor and former REIT executive from Virginia Beach, who says he has taken on an activist investor role in calling attention to Medalist’s struggles and calling for new management to be installed at the company.
Wheeler confirmed he paid for and placed four digital ads on a billboard along the interstate near Topgolf, with messages that call attention to the fact that Medalist stock has plummeted from $10 a share to less than $1. The stock has closed above $1 only twice since last May and the company is under a delisting warning from Nasdaq.
Jon Wheeler
Wheeler, who said he owns less than 1 percent of Medalist’s outstanding shares, said his goal with the billboards is to get the attention of other Medalist shareholders as well as catch the eye of Medalist cofounders, CEO Tim Messier and President Bill Elliott.
“It’s a confirmation publicly of the goings-on at Medalist and at the hands of Tim and Bill and three directors,” Wheeler said. “What was private and quiet is now becoming public and disseminated.”
In addition to the stock’s performance, Wheeler and other shareholders have begun to speak out recently about Medalist’s consecutive annual losses, which total more than $17 million over the last three years, according to the company’s SEC filings. Wheeler and others also take issue with the millions of dollars in fees and stock awards paid to Messier and Elliott, despite the losses and the declining share price.
Wheeler, who himself was ousted in 2018 from the REIT that bears his name in Virginia Beach, said the ultimate goal of the billboards and other efforts is to start a dialogue with Medalist leadership. He claims Messier, Elliott and the company’s board of directors have ignored more than two dozen letters he’s sent to them since becoming a shareholder.
“I would love for them to come to their senses and say, ‘Jon Wheeler is really interested in the growth and profitability of the business, and let’s be more communicative and transparent with our shareholders and turn the corner and make a real go of this.’
“I would like to see them get serious about making this a profitable REIT,” he said.
Wheeler appears to be following a somewhat typical playbook adhered to by activist shareholders, although the billboards would seem to be an upping of the ante.
Wheeler said he plans to run the billboards for a month.
He said the billboards started running last week and will be up for a month, with messages that change weekly. He said the campaign will cost him around $4,000.
In another typical activist shareholder move, Wheeler also last week launched a website, mdrrshareholder.com, to connect with other Medalist shareholders.
“The idea is to generate interest and try to respond to their questions, and if there’s change at MDRR, hopefully they have input in that change where right now that input is absent,” Wheeler said of the site.
Wheeler said he has not heard from Medalist leadership since taking his campaign public.
Medalist has declined to comment to BizSense in recent weeks, beyond what’s stated in its recent press release regarding its exploration of “strategic alternatives,” which could include a sale of the company.
Should the billboards and other efforts not do the trick, Wheeler said another potential step he’s willing to take is to try to introduce a new slate of directors for election to the Medalist board in time for a shareholder vote later this year.
Medalist was founded as a private real estate fund in 2013, before going public five years later. The company owns eight properties across Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. It is headquartered in James Center in downtown Richmond.
One of the four billboard messages calling attention to Medalist’s performance. (BizSense file photos)
An investor’s campaign against the leadership of a publicly traded Richmond-based real estate firm has become more publicly visible.
Billboard ads are now running along I-195, alerting passersby of the lagging stock price of Medalist Diversified REIT, a downtown firm that’s seen its shares lose more than 90 percent of their value since Medalist’s debut on Nasdaq in 2018.
Behind the billboard campaign is Jon Wheeler, a real estate investor and former REIT executive from Virginia Beach, who says he has taken on an activist investor role in calling attention to Medalist’s struggles and calling for new management to be installed at the company.
Wheeler confirmed he paid for and placed four digital ads on a billboard along the interstate near Topgolf, with messages that call attention to the fact that Medalist stock has plummeted from $10 a share to less than $1. The stock has closed above $1 only twice since last May and the company is under a delisting warning from Nasdaq.
Jon Wheeler
Wheeler, who said he owns less than 1 percent of Medalist’s outstanding shares, said his goal with the billboards is to get the attention of other Medalist shareholders as well as catch the eye of Medalist cofounders, CEO Tim Messier and President Bill Elliott.
“It’s a confirmation publicly of the goings-on at Medalist and at the hands of Tim and Bill and three directors,” Wheeler said. “What was private and quiet is now becoming public and disseminated.”
In addition to the stock’s performance, Wheeler and other shareholders have begun to speak out recently about Medalist’s consecutive annual losses, which total more than $17 million over the last three years, according to the company’s SEC filings. Wheeler and others also take issue with the millions of dollars in fees and stock awards paid to Messier and Elliott, despite the losses and the declining share price.
Wheeler, who himself was ousted in 2018 from the REIT that bears his name in Virginia Beach, said the ultimate goal of the billboards and other efforts is to start a dialogue with Medalist leadership. He claims Messier, Elliott and the company’s board of directors have ignored more than two dozen letters he’s sent to them since becoming a shareholder.
“I would love for them to come to their senses and say, ‘Jon Wheeler is really interested in the growth and profitability of the business, and let’s be more communicative and transparent with our shareholders and turn the corner and make a real go of this.’
“I would like to see them get serious about making this a profitable REIT,” he said.
Wheeler appears to be following a somewhat typical playbook adhered to by activist shareholders, although the billboards would seem to be an upping of the ante.
Wheeler said he plans to run the billboards for a month.
He said the billboards started running last week and will be up for a month, with messages that change weekly. He said the campaign will cost him around $4,000.
In another typical activist shareholder move, Wheeler also last week launched a website, mdrrshareholder.com, to connect with other Medalist shareholders.
“The idea is to generate interest and try to respond to their questions, and if there’s change at MDRR, hopefully they have input in that change where right now that input is absent,” Wheeler said of the site.
Wheeler said he has not heard from Medalist leadership since taking his campaign public.
Medalist has declined to comment to BizSense in recent weeks, beyond what’s stated in its recent press release regarding its exploration of “strategic alternatives,” which could include a sale of the company.
Should the billboards and other efforts not do the trick, Wheeler said another potential step he’s willing to take is to try to introduce a new slate of directors for election to the Medalist board in time for a shareholder vote later this year.
Medalist was founded as a private real estate fund in 2013, before going public five years later. The company owns eight properties across Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. It is headquartered in James Center in downtown Richmond.
It didn’t force Mooney out, best of luck
Reminds me of the placards we saw along Virginia Beach Blvd across from the Wheeler REIT offices as he did the same thing to WHLR 2014-2018.