Highlights that the Improvement in the Company's OpEx per Loan Was Driven by Findell's Advocacy and its Identified Director Appointments -- Not by Management or the Current Board
Reiterates its Belief That Additional Independence and Consumer Finance Industry Expertise Is Urgently Needed in the Boardroom to Achieve Oportun's Full Potential
NEW YORK, June 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Findell Capital Partners, LP today issued the below letter to its fellow stockholders of Oportun Financial Corporation (NADSAQ: OPRT) ("Oportun" or the "Company") to address the misleading statements included in Oportun's recent materials.
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Fellow Stockholders,
Findell Capital Partners, LP (together with its affiliates, "Findell," "we" or "us") is the beneficial owner of approximately 7.4% of the outstanding common shares of Oportun Financial Corporation ("Oportun" or the "Company"), making us a top two stockholder. Given our multi-year investment in the Company and our involvement in the successful addition of independent lending experts Scott Parker and Richard Tambor to the Board of Directors (the "Board") in 2024, we are intimately familiar with the operational and governance issues that are preventing Oportun from achieving its full potential.
At the 2025 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the "Annual Meeting") on July 18, we are seeking to elect Warren Wilcox to the Board to strengthen independent oversight of management and ensure the Board is no longer controlled by long-tenured directors resistant to change. Mr. Wilcox is a consumer finance and lending industry veteran who has no ties to Findell and whose appointment would, we believe, empower the Board to effectively oversee the business after years of what we can only describe as value-destructive acquisitions, slow operational improvements and entrenchment maneuvers.
Recent communications from Oportun, including the June 12(th) letter from outgoing Lead Independent Director Neil Williams, apparently attempt to rewrite the Company's history. We want to correct what we see as clearly false and misleading statements made by Oportun so you can make an informed decision at the Annual Meeting:
OPORTUN'S CLAIM THE FACTS
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Claiming that Oportun was proactive in -- This assertion directly contradicts
right-sizing its cost structure management's own statements and
beginning in mid-2022. actions. -- Consider CEO Raul
Vazquez's remarks on a November 2022
conference call: "So, we feel that the
organization is right sized today...
So, we actually think that our posture
on expenses is very sustainable."
-- In FY 2022, Oportun's operating
expenditures were more than $600mm --
having quadrupled from $162mm in 2016.
In 2023, the company was generating
fewer loan originations than they had
in 2016 despite a cost structure that
several folds higher.
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Boasting about its insufficient -- That the Company thought $38mm in
February 2023 plan to reduce expenses cost cuts was "very disciplined"
by a paltry $38mm over the course of a speaks to how off base management was
year. in assessing its own cost position.(1)
-- When we approached the Company in
March 2023, we called for a minimum of
$150mm in additional costs cuts and
for Oportun to refocus on its core
lending business. Management pushed
back in our private calls before
partially pivoting on costs,
announcing an additional cost cut of
$78mm-$83mm, far short of what we
believed was necessary.
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Excluding the fact that the Company -- Unforced errors by the Board and
was on the verge of bankruptcy at the management almost bankrupted the
time of its pivot on cost cuts. Company.(2) Oportun's leadership does
not deserve credit for narrowly
avoiding this crisis of their own
making. -- Given the further
deterioration in Oportun's credit
performance over the 2023 period, the
cost cuts required to right-size the
business would grow considerably over
the course of 2023. -- Management's
slow and insufficient cost cuts led to
the dilution of 42% of Oportun's
outstanding shares from Q1 2023 to
today.(3)
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Ignoring Findell's advocacy for better -- Operating metrics, such as cost per
capital allocation and the impact that loan, only began to improve after our
Scott Parker and Richard Tambor have entreaties in early 2023. -- OpEx per
had on the Company. loan flatlined again during the second
half of 2023 until Mr. Parker and Mr.
Tambor -- who we identified -- joined
the Board and drove a much further
reduction in the Company's OpEx per
loan. -- OpEx per loan improved by 61%
from the date of our first letter to
Oportun in Q1 2023 through Q4 2024
with much of that reduction coming
after the arrival of Scott Parker.(4)
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The attempts by the legacy Board members to take credit for these improvements are, in our view, part of a transparent effort to maintain their positions, despite a track record of poor total stockholder returns. The facts speak for themselves: the turnaround in Oportun's operations is directly tied Findell's engagement and the addition of Mr. Parker and Mr. Tambor.
TOTAL STOCKHOLDER RETURNS: DIRECTOR TENURE(5)
Raul Jo Ann R. Neil Mohit Carlos Scott Richard Vazquez Barefoot Williams Louis B. Ginny Lee Sandra Daswani Minetti Parker Tambor (13 (11 (8 Miramontes (4 Smith (4 (1 (1 (1 (1 Years) Years) Years) (4 Years) Years) Years) Year) Year) Year) Year) ---------- ---------- --------- ---------- --------- --------- -------- -------- -------- -------- (55 %) (55 %) (55 %) (55 %) (72 %) (72 %) +99 % +99 % +206 % +149 % ---------- ---------- --------- ---------- --------- --------- -------- -------- -------- --------
Oportun is a great lending business. We are confident that strengthening the Board with directors who have lending experience and are capable of providing independent oversight will drive the Company to new heights. Allowing the legacy directors, who have no lending experience, to retain majority control of the Board will only put Oportun at long-term risk. The choice for stockholders is that simple.
By voting for Mr. Wilcox, you will not only elect someone with a lifetime of experience in consumer lending, but you will also ensure that the future of your investment is not in the hands of entrenched Board members who have destroyed significant value and allowed management to make numerous strategic errors without accountability. We urge you to vote on the WHITE proxy card today to elect Mr. Wilcox.
Sincerely,
Brian Finn
CIO
Findell Capital
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We urge stockholders to vote FOR the election of Warren Wilcox and AGAINST the reelection of failed CEO Raul Vazquez on the WHITE proxy card. Visit www.OpportunityAtOportun.com to learn more.
Contact:
Findell Capital Management, LLC
88 Pine Street, 22nd Fl.
New York, NY 10005
info@findell.us
OR
Saratoga Proxy Consulting LLC
John Ferguson
info@saratogaproxy.com
(1) During Oportun's Q4 2022 earnings call, CFO Jonathan Coblentz said the Company was "very disciplined about OpEx."
(2) As indicated by the company's share price and deteriorating operating performance during 2023 and early 2024.
(3) Company's weighted average shares outstanding including warrants as reported on Form 10-Q.
(4) Company financial reports on Form 10-Q, Bloomberg.
(5) Company proxy statement filed May 28, 2025 and Bloomberg. Total stockholder returns as of 6/12/2025.
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/findell-capital-provides-facts-in-response-to-oportuns-misleading-narrative-302480855.html
SOURCE Findell Capital Management, LLC
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 13, 2025 08:06 ET (12:06 GMT)