Investor Group Comments On Latest Actions Of Trustees Of Texas Pacific Land Trust To Obstruct Shareholder Democracy

DALLAS, May 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- SoftVest, L.P., Horizon Kinetics LLC and ART-FGT Family Partners, which collectively beneficially own over 25% of the outstanding shares of Texas Pacific Land Trust TPL (the "Trust" or "TPL"), issued today the following statement to TPL investors:

Fellow TPL investors:

Like many of you, we are at a loss to explain the actions taken by the incumbent Trustees this afternoon on any above-board or bona fide basis. Not only did they file a meritless lawsuit against Eric Oliver, but they used it as a pretense to try to cancel tomorrow's special meeting of shareholders.  In furtherance of full transparency, we have already publicly filed with the SEC a copy of the Trustees' disclosure complaint so shareholders can review it on their own, and come to their own conclusions before the meeting tomorrow.

Think about what is going on:  after spending over two months and millions of dollars in shareholders' money to protect their lifetime tenures as trustees, David Barry and John Norris want to avoid – apparently by any measure – counting shareholders' votes; this from fiduciaries whose essential responsibility is to act on behalf of shareholders.  In our view, the trustees and their advisors simply have no shame, or certainly do not have a sufficient measure of it to inhibit such behavior.

Fortunately, Broadridge has decided, following our public dissemination of this action, to reverse the Trustees' directive to withhold shareholders' proxies– proving the disinfecting power of the bright light of day – and we are now in possession of the votes delivered by shareholders through Broadridge.  With those in hand, we will proceed to attend the special meeting scheduled tomorrow morning in Dallas. 

As we have previously stated, in our view without a shareholder vote the incumbent Trustees simply do not have the power or authority to delay or cancel the special meeting or a vote on the trustee proposal. We will see this matter through tomorrow, and invite those shareholders who are in Dallas or who had already made travel arrangements to join us and cast their vote on this important matter.

Important Information

SoftVest, L.P. has filed a definitive proxy statement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in connection with the solicitation of proxies for a special meeting of holders of the sub-share certificates of proprietary interests for the election of a new trustee of TPL. Investors are strongly advised to read the proxy statement because it contains important information. Investors may obtain a free copy of the proxy statement from the SEC's website at www.sec.gov, or by contacting D.F. King, SoftVest LP's proxy solicitor, by phone (212-269-5550) or e-mail (TPL@dfking.com).

SOURCE SoftVest L.P., Horizon Kinetics LLC and ART-FGT Family Partners