Shareholders in DHI Group Inc. (NYSE: DHX), which operates the Dice and other job boards, sent a letter to Chairman Peter Ezersky stating they strongly believe that a sale of the company is the best way to maximize value for shareholders. Barington Capital Group LP and Ancora Advisors LLC represent a group of shareholders who collectively beneficially owns approximately 4% of the outstanding common stock of the company.

DHI in April changed its name from Dice Holdings Inc.

The letter cited the gap between the company’s current market price and its private market valuation as well as operational challenges the company has had under its current management team.

The letter notes the investors have had discussions with several potential private equity and strategic buyers of DHI who have expressed interest in acquiring the company at a premium to its current market price. Barington and Ancora urged the board to engage an investment banking firm to run a sale process for the company in order to unlock the intrinsic value of the company. 

“The company has also materially underperformed its peers and the market as a whole over the past five-year period,” the letter stated. “We believe that the company’s disappointing stock price performance is primarily a result of the fact that the company’s management team has been unable to grow its customer base in recent years despite its strong market position. It also appears that DHI's management team has been struggling to efficiently manage its recently acquired businesses, whose operating margins lag that of the company’s core business.”  

DHI’s brands include Dice, eFinancialCareers, Rigzone, HealtheCareers, Hcareers, ClearanceJobs, BioSpace and WorkDigital.