Safeguard Scientifics taps Manko to board

Safeguard Scientifics has appointed Joseph M. Manko Jr. to its board of directors. The appointment is effective immediately. Manko is the senior principal of The Horton Fund and a joint owner of Maplewood Capital LLC of Sierra Capital Investments LP and its affiliates.

PRESS RELEASE

RADNOR, Pa., March 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. (NYSE: SFE) (Safeguard or the Company) today announced that it has appointed a new independent director, Joseph M. Manko, Jr., to the Safeguard Board of Directors effective immediately and will support his re-election at the 2019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders as part of a six-person slate of nominees recommended by the Safeguard Board.

Mr. Manko is the Senior Principal of The Horton Fund, and a joint owner, along with Darren C. Wallis of Maplewood Capital LLC, of Sierra Capital Investments, L.P. and its affiliates (collectively, “Sierra”), which currently own approximately 5.8% of the Company’s outstanding common stock.

Dr. Robert J. Rosenthal, Chairman of the Safeguard Board, said, “We are pleased to add Mr. Manko to our Board of Directors, and we look forward to his contributions. I am confident Joe will complement the strengths of the current members of our Board and help us oversee the execution of the Company’s strategy to pursue monetization opportunities and to maximize returns to shareholders.”

Messrs. Wallis and Manko, Managing Members of Sierra, said, “We are pleased to have worked constructively with Safeguard to add Joe as a direct shareholder representative on the Board. We look forward to working with the Board and management team to achieve our common goal of enhancing shareholder value.”

In January 2018, Safeguard began to implement a new business strategy designed to maximize shareholder value. Under the new strategy, Safeguard ceased deploying capital into new partner companies and is focused on managing and financially supporting its existing partner companies, with the goal of pursuing monetization opportunities and maximizing the returns to shareholders. Since the implementation of this strategy, Safeguard has generated significant cash proceeds from monetizations of partner companies and reduced its ongoing cost structure. Safeguard recently appointed Evercore to advise it in the implementation of its new strategy of monetizations and return of capital to shareholders.

About Joseph M. Manko, Jr.
Joseph M. Manko, Jr. is the Senior Principal of The Horton Fund, an investment management firm. Previously, Mr. Manko served as the Chief Executive Officer of Switzerland-based BZ Fund Management Limited, where he was responsible for corporate finance, private equity investments, three public equity funds and the firm’s Special Situations and Event-Driven strategies (2005 -2010). Mr. Manko was a Managing Director and Head of Equity Capital Markets with Deutsche Bank in London (1997 – 2004) and a Vice President at Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong (1995 – 1997). He began his career as a Corporate Finance Attorney at Skadden, Arps, in Los Angeles (1991 – 1995). Mr. Manko currently serves on the Board of Directors of RMS Medical Products Inc., a leading developer and manufacturer of medical devices and supplies (since May 2016), and Creative Realties, Inc, a marketing technology company (since September 2018). Mr. Manko has also served on the Board of Directors of several European biotechnology companies, including NovImmune, S.A. (2006 – 2010). Mr. Manko received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and his bachelor’s degree from University of Pennsylvania.

About Safeguard Scientifics
Historically, Safeguard Scientifics (NYSE: SFE) has provided capital and relevant expertise to fuel the growth of technology-driven businesses. Safeguard has a distinguished track record of fostering innovation and building market leaders that spans more than six decades. For more information, please visit www.safeguard.com.