Summer Infant Names Seasoned Juvenile Products Leader Mark Messner as President and Chief Executive Officer
June 29 2016 - 9:00AM
Summer Infant, Inc. (“Summer Infant” or the “Company”)
(NASDAQ:SUMR), a global leader in premium infant and juvenile
products, today announced that Mark Messner has been appointed
President and Chief Executive Officer, effective July 13, 2016.
Robert Stebenne, Summer Infant’s current President and CEO, will
remain a member of the Company’s Board of Directors.
Mr. Messner, 50, brings strong leadership and
marketing experience in the juvenile products’ space to Summer
Infant. Most recently he served as Chief Executive Officer of
Artsana USA, Inc. (Chicco), a manufacturer of baby care products
under the Chicco brand. In this role he oversaw finance,
operations, marketing, e-commerce, product development and sales
for the United States and Canada. Mr. Messner joined Artsana USA in
2003 as Vice President of Marketing & Product Development and
served as its Chief Operating Officer for three years before taking
over as CEO in 2012. He began his career with Graco Children’s
Products in 1991.
“Mark is a passionate and customer-focused
leader whose experience in building brands and creating innovative
products will help drive Summer Infant’s next stage of growth,”
said Dan Almagor, Chairman of Summer Infant’s Board of Directors.
“Over his 13-year career at Artsana USA, Mark built a strong team
and culture of creativity and product development. I am delighted
that Mark will be at the helm of Summer Infant as we build on the
great progress recently achieved. We also want to express our
sincere appreciation to Bob Stebenne for guiding the Company
through a challenging period this past year. Through his efforts,
Bob created significant positive momentum for Summer Infant, which
Mark can leverage to expand the Company’s market presence and
capitalizes on new growth opportunities.”
“I look forward to working with Mark and the
Board as we continue to advance our product differentiation
strategy and focus on building value for our shareholders,” added
Bob Stebenne, President and CEO. “Mark is clearly the ideal choice
to lead Summer Infant going forward. He is a successful executive
who understands the three critical competencies required to run our
Company – a focus on growth, new product innovation, and a
mission-driven orientation.”
“Summer Infant has a strong portfolio of core
brands, a successful track record of new product development, and
global growth potential,” said Mark Messner. “I’m excited to join
the Company and work closely with the Board and its talented team
of employees to build on Summer Infant’s solid foundation and
create even greater value in the years to come.”
In connection with his offer of employment, Mr.
Messner was granted (i) an option to purchase 100,000 shares of the
Company’s common stock, with an exercise price equal to the closing
price of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant, (ii)
50,000 shares of restricted stock and (iii) a performance-based
restricted stock unit award of up to 100,000 restricted stock
units. Subject to Mr. Messner’s continued service with the
Company, his stock option and restricted stock awards will each
vest in equal annual installments over a four-year period beginning
on the first anniversary of the date of grant. The
performance-based restricted stock unit award will vest upon the
achievement of a specified adjusted EBITDA margin in each of fiscal
year 2017 and fiscal year 2018, with 50,000 units vesting if the
specified margin is achieved in fiscal year 2017 and 50,000 units
vesting if the specified margin is achieved in fiscal year
2018. The Compensation Committee of the Company’s Board of
Directors granted these awards as an inducement material to Mr.
Messner’s acceptance of employment in accordance with NASDAQ
Listing Rule 5635(c)(4).
About Summer Infant, Inc.Based
in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, the Company is a global leader of
premium infant and juvenile products for ages 0-3 years which are
sold principally to large North American and international
retailers. The Company currently sells proprietary products in a
number of different categories including nursery audio/video
monitors, safety gates, durable bath products, bed rails, nursery
products, strollers, booster and potty seats, swaddling blankets,
bouncers, travel accessories, highchairs, swings, and infant
feeding products. For more information about the Company,
please visit www.summerinfant.com.
Forward-Looking StatementsThis
news release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
These statements concern management's current assumptions,
estimates, beliefs, plans, strategies and expectations and
anticipated events or trends and similar expressions concerning
matters that are not historical facts. Such forward-looking
information may be identified by terms such as “expect,”
“anticipate,” “believe,” “outlook,” “may,” “estimate,” “should,”
“predict” and similar terms or variations thereof, and includes
statements regarding the effectiveness of our strategy to promote
future growth and profitability, the strength of our customer and
supplier relationships, the ability of our new leadership team and
expected trends and product innovation. These statements are based
on a series of expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections
about our Company, are not guarantees of future results or
performance, and involve significant risks, uncertainties and other
factors, including assumptions and projections, for all forward
periods. Our actual results may differ materially from any future
results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. We
intend our forward-looking statements to speak only as of the time
of such statements and do not undertake or plan to update or revise
them as more information becomes available or to reflect changes in
expectations, assumptions or results. We cannot give any assurance
that such expectations or forward-looking statements will prove to
be correct. An occurrence of, or any material adverse change in,
one or more of the risk factors or risks and uncertainties referred
to in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year
ended January 2, 2016, and other periodic reports filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, could materially and adversely
impact our operations and our future financial results.
Contact:
Chris Witty
Investor Relations
646-438-9385
cwitty@darrowir.com
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