Blucora confirms director nomination notice from Engine Capital

Blucora disclosed that on January 20, Engine Capital LP provided notice of nomination of a candidate for election to Blucora’s board of directors at the 2023 annual meeting of stockholders. Engine’s candidate was previously proposed by Engine privately. The Board has engaged extensively with Engine’s candidate and determined today that the candidate’s skills and experience are not additive to those of the Board. The Board issued the following statement: "We are disappointed that Engine has taken this disruptive action, no less so because it is the second time in as many years. Blucora is executing well on all of the company’s key initiatives and is performing for its stockholders. On November 1, 2022, the company announced that it had entered into an agreement to sell our tax software business, TaxAct, for $720 million in cash, subject to customary adjustments. The sale, which closed on December 19, 2022, has both simplified Blucora’s business structure and will allow us to return significant capital to stockholders. The company remains on track to garner the benefits of the sale and, as previously announced in connection with the sale, the company is executing on its plans to further enhance shareholder value. These plans include rebranding to reflect our new single line of business, streamlining operations based on our forward focus on Avantax, a reduction in the size of the Board by two seats to reflect our company size and the return of between $400 to $450 million of capital to our stockholders, including through a $250 million modified "Dutch Auction" tender offer in the first quarter of 2023. As a result of the effective execution of a sustainable growth strategy, Blucora’s stock is up 70% over the one-year period ended January 20, 2023, when Engine delivered its nomination notice, outpacing the performance of 97% of all companies in the Russell 3000 over that period. We are proud of the hard work of the Blucora leadership team and believe Blucora has the right plan, Board and leadership to continue to create value for Blucora’s stockholders."