Management

Texas Industries Names Tom Ransdell Chairman

Charles Gross — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:29:44 +0000

Texas Industries (NYSE: TXI) announced today that its Board of Directors has named Mr. Tom Ransdell as its Chairman of the Board effective June 18, ...

Symmetricom Announces Strategic Restructuring Plan

Charles Gross — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:28:36 +0000

Symmetricom (NASDAQ: SYMM) today announced a strategic restructuring plan and updated its financial outlook for its fiscal fourth quarter ending June 30, 2013.

The restructuring plan includes the realignment and consolidation of several organizations, elimination of certain ...

MasterCard Announces Annual Meeting Results; Stockholders Re-elect 12 Members to Board of Directors

Paul Quintaro — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:31:35 +0000

MasterCard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) announced the results of its Annual Meeting of Stockholders, held earlier today at the company's headquarters in Purchase, NY. At the meeting:

each of MasterCard's directors were re-elected for an annual term; MasterCard's executive compensation was approved on an advisory basis; and the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the Company's independent registered public accounting firm ...

LoJack Announces Election of Phil Horlock to Board of Directors

Paul Quintaro — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:05:51 +0000

LoJack Corporation (NASDAQ: LOJN), a leading provider of vehicle theft recovery and advanced fleet management solutions, today announced that transportation industry executive Phil Horlock has been elected to its Board of Directors, effective immediately. Horlock, the Board's ninth member and eighth independent director, will serve until the next annual meeting of shareholders.

Horlock, 57, is President and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Bird Corporation. Blue Bird, owned by Cerberus Capital Management, LP, is an international leader in school bus and transit bus design, manufacture and distribution, with more than 1,500 employees, manufacturing facilities in Georgia and Ontario and an extensive dealer network throughout North America. He joined Blue Bird in January of 2010 as Chief Financial Officer and was appointed to President and Chief Executive Officer in April of 2011. During his tenure, Horlock has overseen the company's ...

Dan Loeb's Third Point Boosts Sony Stake, Reiterates Stance For Entertainment IPO (SNE)

Matthew Kanterman — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:11:22 +0000

Activist investor Dan Loeb of Third Point Capital has taken a larger stake in embattled technology maker Sony (NYSE: SNE) in an attempt to maximize shareholder value in the conglomerate. Loeb overnight announced that his fund raised its stake in the company to 6.9 percent in a bid to force through his proposal to a break up of the company.

Entertainment IPO

As part of Loeb's value creation strategy, he wants Sony to spin out its large entertainment business which is comprised of its movie and music entertainment businesses. He proposed that Sony initially sell 15-20 percent of the entertainment business with a view to spin it out completely with a view to spinning off the entire business in the end.

Loeb values the entertainment business at $10 billion and sees an initial sale of ...

If You Think Your Job Sucks, Wait Until You Hear About the Job This CEO Took in College (OTCM)

Louis Bedigian — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:53:20 +0000

Cromwell Coulson is the CEO of OTC Markets Group (OTC: OTCM) (OTCQX: OTCM). Before leading that firm to where it is today, Coulson spent a day "going around with a guy who worked for an oil company." Coulson told Benzinga that they pulled equipment out of an oil rig to steam clean it "to get all the gunk off it."

"We came back smelling like an oil well," he said.

After that, he never went back.

Fortunately, not all of Coulson's earlier jobs were that depressing.

"My ...

Glass Lewis Urges Holders of CommonWealth REIT to Remove Entire Board of Trustees

Paul Quintaro — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:07:50 +0000

Corvex Management LP ("Corvex") and Related Fund Management, LLC ("Related"), today commented on the report published by Glass Lewis & Co. ("Glass Lewis"), one of the nation's leading independent proxy advisory firms, recommending that their clients vote to remove the entire board of trustees at CommonWealth REIT (NYSE: CWH) by consenting to ALL proposals using Corvex and Related's WHITE consent card.

Keith Meister of Corvex and Jeff T. Blau of Related, said: "Glass Lewis's recommendation to remove all CommonWealth trustees marks the second vote of unanimous support from a leading independent proxy advisory firm – further validating that our consent solicitation offers the only path toward significant change at CommonWealth. By ignoring ...

UPDATE: Duke Energy board elects Lynn Good as president and CEO; Good to Assume New Role July 1

Paul Quintaro — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:21:34 +0000

Duke Energy announced today that the board of directors has unanimously elected Lynn Good as its next president and chief executive officer, succeeding Jim Rogers, who will continue to serve as chairman of the board until his retirement on Dec. 31, 2013. Good will also serve as a director on the Duke Energy board. She will assume her new role on July 1.

The Duke Energy board of directors will also name one of its independent directors chair-elect in the coming weeks. This individual will assume responsibilities as chairman of the board on Jan. 1, 2014, and will assist the new CEO and the board with a smooth transition in the coming months.

Good, 54, has served as Duke Energy's executive vice president and chief financial officer since July 2009. She joined Cinergy, a Duke Energy predecessor company, in 2003 following 20 years working in senior management roles and as a partner for Deloitte & Touche and Arthur Andersen.

"After a responsible and deliberate selection process by the board of directors, we are delighted that Lynn will become our next president and CEO," said Duke Energy lead director Ann Maynard Gray, who led the board's special committee to select the next CEO. "The selection committee considered several exceptional internal and external candidates and determined that Lynn's leadership abilities and strategic vision for Duke Energy's continued growth make her the ideal choice."

"The committee applied thoughtfulness, collaboration and diligence to its selection process," said board director and selection committee member Jim Hyler. "Our unanimous support of Lynn as our next president and CEO clearly demonstrates that the board is united in its vision for the company and its confidence that Lynn is the best leader to move Duke Energy forward."

Prior to her tenure as Duke Energy's CFO, Good served as group executive and president of Duke Energy's Commercial Businesses organization. In this role, she was principally responsible for the Midwest non-regulated generation, Duke Energy International, Duke Energy Renewables, corporate development, and merger and acquisition activities.

"I am deeply honored by the trust the board has placed in me to lead Duke Energy," said Good. "I have a high degree of confidence in the strength of our company's leadership and dedicated employees."

"I will work to ensure Duke Energy is positioned to continue its track record of outstanding customer service and operational and financial excellence," Good added.

Good will succeed Rogers, who has served as Duke Energy's president and CEO since 2006. In November 2012, Rogers, 65, announced that he will retire from the company by the end of 2013 after a 25-year career as a CEO in the utility industry.

"I have worked closely with Lynn for 10 ...

Ducommun Receives Multi-Year BLACK HAWK Helicopter Contract from Sikorsky

Charles Gross — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:05:10 +0000

Ducommun
Incorporated (NYSE: DCO) (“Ducommun” or the “Company”) today
announced that it has received a multi-year contract from Sikorsky
Aircraft Corp., a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX), to
...

Penn Virginia Receives Approximately $21M in Preferential Right Payments

Charles Gross — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:04:00 +0000

Penn Virginia Corporation (NYSE: PVA) announced today that it has received $21.4 million in cash from the exercises of preferential rights related to the recently completed $401 million Eagle Ford Shale acquisition. The proceeds from these exercises were used to reduce outstanding borrowings under PVA's revolving credit facility.

As a result of these exercises, 2013 cash flows and capital expenditures are both expected to ...

Techne to Acquire Bionostics Holdings

Charles Gross — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:03:25 +0000

Techne Corporation (NASDAQ: TECH) (Techne) announced today that it has agreed to acquire 100% ownership of Bionostics Holdings Limited and its operating subsidiary Bionostics, Inc. (Bionostics). Bionostics is a global leader in the development, manufacture and distribution of control solutions that verify ...

Skullcandy Announces Alignment of Product, Marketing and Sales Functions, Search for CFO

Charles Gross — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:02:20 +0000

Skullcandy, Inc. (Nasdaq: SKUL) today announced the Company is taking significant steps to better align its product, marketing and sales functions in order to strengthen its position as the leading performance and lifestyle audio company driven by the creativity and attitude of youth culture. The Company also announced certain executive changes and the commencement of a search for a new Chief Financial ...

ExOne Announces Collaboration with Ipsen

Charles Gross — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:58:35 +0000

The ExOne Company (NASDAQ: XONE), a global provider of three-dimensional ("3D") printing machines and printed products to industrial customers, has teamed with Ipsen, a designer and manufacturer of industrial vacuum ...

Astronics Signs Long-Term Agreement With Rockwell Collins

Charles Gross — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:57:28 +0000

Astronics Corporation (NASDAQ: ATRO) ("Company") announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Luminescent Systems Canada Inc. (LSI Canada), has signed a long-term enterprise sourcing agreement with Rockwell Collins.

The agreement includes illuminated cockpit control panels, keyboards, display bezels and ...

Royalty Pharma Withdraws Request for Judicial Review, Announces Lapse of Offer

Charles Gross — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:51:24 +0000

Royalty Pharma announced today that it had withdrawn its request for a judicial review of the Irish Takeover Panel's decision requiring it to lapse its offer for Elan Corporation, plc (NYSE: ELN) if, among other things, Elan shareholders approved the Share Repurchase Program.

Following Elan's announcement of a sale process, Elan shareholders approved the Share Repurchase Program with 187,484,566 votes FOR and 186,574,867 ...