🔒Former CEO challenges strategy at Hamden tech firm TransAct in shareholder letter

The former longtime CEO of a Hamden-based maker of specialty printers and point-of-sale technology is publicly challenging the company’s board and strategy, arguing that years of missteps have eroded shareholder value and left the business on an uncertain path. Bart C. Shuldman, who led TransAct Technologies Inc. for 27 years before abruptly resigning in 2023, issued an open letter Thursday to the board and fellow shareholders criticizing the company’s leadership. “This is not the company we built,” Shuldman wrote in the letter. He said he owns about 93,500 shares of the company, which is traded on the Nasdaq. TransAct’s shares were trading at $3.35 Thursday morning, down about 16% year-to-date and roughly half the $6.44 price at which the stock traded when Shuldman’s resignation was announced in April 2023. TransAct makes specialty printers and related systems used in restaurants, casinos and other point-of-sale settings, including tools that help businesses manage orders and food-safety labeling. In the letter, Shuldman argued that the momentum he left behind has not been sustained. Since his departure, the company has not meaningfully introduced new products, expanded into new markets or announced significant new large-scale customer wins, he wrote. His sharpest criticism was directed at the company’s strategy of expanding into software for the food service market. Shuldman said TransAct lacks a clear competitive advantage in that space and faces well-capitalized rivals with scale, resources and existing customer bases that may be difficult to displace. The rise of artificial intelligence, he added, makes differentiation harder. “This, in my view, increases the risk of committing significant capital to compete in an already crowded and highly competitive market,” he wrote. Shuldman argued that TransAct would be better served by leaning into its hardware strengths — which he called among the leading platforms in the food service industry — and partnering with established software providers instead. He also disclosed a strategic review that preceded his departure. Before he left, he wrote, the company had engaged three investment banks to evaluate strategic alternatives. Their analysis concluded that splitting TransAct into two separate entities could unlock a combined value “significantly higher” than the company’s share price at the time. That process was never completed, and the stock has since fallen, he wrote. Shuldman also raised questions about whether current board representation reflects the interests of the shareholder base. He stopped short of naming specific directors or calling for their removal, but said shareholders “should carefully evaluate whether the current Board composition best serves the Company’s future.” The letter arrives about a month before TransAct’s annual meeting on May 26. The company recently reported improving financial trends.The company reported full-year 2025 net sales of $51.5 million, up 19% from $43.4 million in 2024. It posted a full-year net loss of $1.24 million, a significant improvement from a $9.9 million net loss in 2024, though that figure was inflated by a $7.3 million non-cash tax charge. When Shuldman departed in 2023, TransAct told investors to expect full-year revenue of $70 million to $72 million — a target the company has yet to approach, he said. TransAct did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.