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SCHEDULE 14A INFORMATION
PROXY STATEMENT PUSUANT TO SECTION 14(a) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
(AMENDMENT NO. ____)
Filed by Registrant [X]
Filed by a Party other than the Registrant [ ]
Check the appropriate box:
[ ] Preliminary Proxy Statement
[ ] Confidential for the Use of the Commission Only (as permitted
by Rule 14a-6(c)(21)
[ ] Definitive Proxy Statement
[ ] Definitive Additional Materials
[X ] Soliciting Material Pursuant to Rule 240.14a-11(c) or Rule 240.14a-12
ERLY INDUSTRIES INC.
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(Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)
ERLY INDUSTRIES INC.
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(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement)
Payment of Filing Fee (Check the appropriate box):
[X ] No fee required.
[ ] Fee computed on table below per Exchange Act Rules 14a-6(i)(4)
and 0-11.
1. Title of each class of securities to which transaction applies:
______________________________________________________________________
2. Aggregate number of securities to which transaction applies:
______________________________________________________________________
3. Per unit price or other underlying value of transaction computed
pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 0-11, set forth the amount on which
the filing fee is calculated and state how it was determined:
______________________________________________________________________
4. Proposed maximum aggregate value of transaction:
______________________________________________________________________
5. Total fee paid:
______________________________________________________________________
[ ] Fee paid previously with preliminary materials.
[ ] Check box if any part of the fee is offset as provided by Exchange Act
Rule 0-11(a)(2) and identify the filing for which the offsetting fee
was paid previously. Identify the previous filing by registration
statement number, or the Form or Schedule and the date of its filing.
(1) Amount Previously Paid:
______________________________________________________________________
(2) Form, Schedule or Registration Statement No.:
______________________________________________________________________
(3) Filing Party:
______________________________________________________________________
(4) Date Filed:
______________________________________________________________________
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ERLY INDUSTRIES INC.
10990 WILSHIRE BOULEVARD, #1800
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90024
ERLY INDUSTRIES ANNOUNCES
FILING OF PRELIMINARY PROXY STATEMENT
LOS ANGELES, California (August 22, 1997) - ERLY Industries Inc.
(Nasdaq NM: ERLY) announced that today it has filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission a preliminary proxy statement in anticipation
of its Annual Meeting of Shareholders scheduled for September 26, 1997.
At the Annual Meeting, shareholders will be asked to re-elect the current
Board of Directors and to approve two amendments to the Articles of
Incorporation: one amendment would eliminate cumulative voting; the other
would eliminate action by written consent of shareholders. The current
directors of ERLY are Gerald D. Murphy, Douglas A. Murphy, William H.
Burgess, Bill J. McFarland and Alan M. Wiener.
Gerald D. Murphy, Chairman of the Board, stated "The directors believe that,
if approved, these amendments to the Articles of Incorporation will inhibit
the ability of a small minority of dissident shareholders, such as the
Trenham group, from seeking to utilize their position to wield
disproportionate power over the affairs of the Company at the expense of
other shareholders."
As previously announced, Noble Trenham and his firm, First Global Securties,
Inc. of Pasadena, California, and Nanette Kelley and her companies, The
Powell Group and Farmers Rice Milling Company of Baton Rouge, Louisiana
(collectively, "the Trenham group"), who own less than 4% of the outstanding
shares of ERLY, have stated their intention to solicit votes from
shareholders to remove all the current directors of the Company and replace
them with their own slate of directors.
Officers and directors of ERLY Industries currently own approximately 38%
of the outstanding shares of the Company.
ERLY Industries, a diversified agribusiness, operates in three industries.
American Rice, Inc., a publicly traded company in which ERLY holds a
controlling voting interest, is engaged in the processing, packaging and
marketing of rice and olives. Wholly-owned Chemonics Industries, Inc.,
through its subsidiary Chemonics International, Inc., a consulting
corporation, provides public and private-sector management and technical
services worldwide. Through its Chemonics Fire-Trol, Inc. and Chemonics
Industries (Canada) Ltd. subsidiaries (collectively, "Fire-Trol"),
Chemonics Industries is also a major supplier in North America of
fire-retardant products for the management of forest fires.
