Bel Fuse takes next step in fight with Pulse

In an effort to persuade fellow Pulse Electronics Corp. shareholders to reserve their final vote for independently nominated board of director nominees, Bel Fuse Inc. issued a presentation and letter to Pulse stockholders in anticipation of the May 18 annual meeting.
Bel Fuse, which is based in Jersey City, has attempted to combine with the Trevose, Penn., competitor since 2006, and earlier in 2011 nominated two independent candidates (http://bit.ly/kg2lhq), Timothy E. Berg and James Dennedy, for the Pulse board of directors. Bel Fuse and one of its subsidiaries, Bel Ventures Inc., own more than 300,000 shares of the 41.6 million shares of outstanding Pulse stock.
The letter, written by Bel Fuse’s CEO, president and director, Daniel Bernstein, refutes several of the claims made by Pulse in a letter responding to Bel Fuse’s proxy statement (http://bit.ly/mx3laJ) issued in April, dismissing the company’s claim that Bel Fuse’s board candidates are “hand picked” and could steal valuable intellectual property.
“Bel is not seeking to surreptitiously obtain Pulse’s intellectual property by planting spies on the Pulse Board. Bel’s nominees will be bound by the same confidentiality restrictions and fiduciary duties as every other board member,” Bernstein states in the letter.
Neither company will comment beyond the prepared statements.
Bernstein also continued to argue that Bel Fuse’s initial offer of $6 per share of Pulse stock is not opportunistic, backing up his claim with dollar figures. According to the Bel Fuse presentation, Pulse currently has a market cap of $247 million, and the $6-per-share offer would increase the market cap to $250 million.
Bel Fuse has a market cap of…