To hear Awadhesh Sinha tell it, Steven Madden Ltd. is a shareholder-friendly company.
The shoe designer and maker has returned $21 million to investors so far in 2005 by doling out dividends and by repurchasing stock, more than double what it spent on share buybacks in 2004. Among thereasons: “Our commitment to enhance shareholder value,” Madden’s chief operating officer told a group of Wall Street analysts Dec. 7.
But the relationship between Madden and its stockholders hasn’t always been as warm as a pair of the company’s $130 faux-fur lace-up boots. Left unsaid by Sinha was that Madden’s more generous sharerepurchase program was instituted after a New York hedge fund threatened a proxy battle last year for control of the company.
