The Arena Group Holdings, Inc. (AREN) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to our Annual Meeting of Stockholders. It's now 12 p.m. and the meeting is called to order, and the polls are open. I'm Paul Edmondson, Chief Executive Officer of the Arena Group Holdings, Inc., and I will serve as the Chair of the meeting. Joining me is Alex Wasserburger, our General Counsel. Mr. Wasserburger will serve as the Secretary of this meeting. And [ Jesse Poteet ] from Equity Trust Company will be appointed to act as inspector of the meeting. We are also joined by the Board of Directors. Representatives of BDO, our company's independent registered public accounting firm, are also present. The record date for the determination of the holders of our common stock entitled to receive notice of and to vote at this meeting was fixed by the Board of Directors to be November 5, 2025. An affidavit of mailing has been received, attesting that full sets of proxy materials were distributed to each holder of the company's common stock as of the close of business on the record date. The affidavit will be attached to the minutes of this meeting. Mr. Secretary, do we have the preliminary report from the Inspector of the Elections.

Yes. Thank you, Paul. According to the report, as of the close of business on the record date, there was 47,578,485 shares of common stock issued and outstanding. And each share is entitled to 1 vote. The Inspector of Elections preliminary report shows that holders of at least a majority of the outstanding ordinary shares are represented at this meeting, either in-person or by proxy. Paul, are you able to hear that final piece? [Technical Difficulty] We apologize for the audio issues. With that, a quorum is present for the transaction of the business and the meeting can proceed. The polls for voting on all matters are now open. If you are a stockholder entitled to vote and have not yet voted or you wish to change your vote, you can vote at www.voteproxy.com using your 12-digit voting control number. If you have already voted by proxy, it is not necessary to do it again. We will now take up the business of the meeting, which consists of two proposals. First, the election of 3 directors named in the proxy statement, specifically a H. Hunt Allred, Cavitt Randall and Lynn Petersmarck. Second is the ratification of the appointment of BDO, certified public accountants, as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 23 -- or 31, 2025. The polls are about to close. So if you have not yet voted, please do so now. Again, if you have already submitted your proxy, your shares will automatically be voted in accordance with your instructions, and you do not need to vote again. The polls are now closed. Based on a preliminary report of the Inspector of Election, each of the 3 director nominees received the affirmative vote of a plurality of the outstanding shares present at this meeting and entitled to vote. Accordingly, each has been elected to serve until the Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held in 2026 or until a successor is duly elected. Second, the proposal to ratify the appointment of BDO received the affirmative vote of a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock present at the meeting and entitled to vote. And therefore, it has been approved. A final report of election will be prepared, and we plan to report the results on a current report on Form 8-K. As there is no further business before this meeting, I declare the meeting adjourned, and we thank you for coming and for your continued support of the Arena Group Holdings. Thank you, and have a wonderful day.