Investor Proposes Board Makeover for Tix Corp.

An activist investor in Tix Corp. has put up a slate of nominees for election to the board of directors. Haren Bhakta is one of the four candidates running to serve on the board of the Studio City discount ticket seller. Bhakta is an investor in Tix through his firm HSB Capital Partners in Santa Ana, which owns about 5 percent of the company. On Tuesday, Bhakta issued a letter to Tix shareholders outlining concerns with the company’s underperformance and the reasons why the board of directors should be changed. “HSB has validly nominated four highly qualified directors who possess the right mix of skills and relevant backgrounds to turnaround Tix and will not be derailed from allowing stockholders to decide the future direction of the company,” the letter said. Along with Bhakta, the other board candidates are Palak Bhakta, a senior patent attorney for BlackBerry Ltd.; John Buckingham, a professor in marketing at Pepperdine University; and Michael Fisk, principal and owner of InterMark Strategy & Consulting, a marketing consulting firm in Los Angeles. “It is HSB’s intention to reinvigorate the board with our director slate … who possess the talent and experience to provide appropriate oversight and ensure the company has a strong and streamlined management team, a strategy to address its challenges and an effective implementation plan,” the letter said. The board election will take place during Tix’s annual shareholder meeting that traditionally takes place in late August or early September. Tix has kiosks under its Tix4Tonight subsidiary selling tickets in Las Vegas for up to 50 percent off to shows, concerts and other attractions, as well as discount dining and shopping offers. On Wednesday shares of Tix (TIXC) closed up 3 cents, or more than 5 percent, to 60 cents on the over-the-counter market.