NEW YORK, Aug. 24, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Committee
to Rescue Reed's ("The Committee") announced today that it has
formally nominated five highly qualified, independent candidates
for election to the Reed's, Inc. (NYSE MKT: REED) ("Reed's" or the
"Company") board of directors (the "Board") at the Company's
upcoming 2016 annual meeting.
The Committee issued the following statement regarding the need
for change at Reed's:
"Since going public, Reed's has been plagued by poor financial
performance and serious corporate governance deficiencies.
For evidence of these serious corporate governance deficiencies,
shareholders need to look no further than the following set of
troubling facts: (i) two of the four current members of the Board
include the Chairman and CEO and his spouse, (ii) one of the
independent directors has been cited by Institutional Shareholder
Services for his failure 'to attend at least 75 percent of his
board and committee meetings since 2009', (iii) the Board has
allowed the other current independent director to serve despite his
failure to receive majority vote support at the last two annual
meetings and (iv) Reed's received notice from the New York Stock
Exchange for its failure to meet the standards for continued
listing."
"In recent months, members of The Committee have made multiple
attempts to engage in good faith dialogue with Chairman and CEO
Chris Reed in order to avoid a
potentially costly and time consuming proxy contest.
Unfortunately, their efforts were met with deafening silence
from Mr. Reed. The Committee is concerned that the Company's
exceptionally poor operating performance will continue to
deteriorate and that each shareholder's investment runs the risk of
being entirely destroyed unless new, independent voices are added
in the boardroom."
"The Committee had hoped to work constructively with the Board
to address its concerns. Unfortunately, it is as if Reed's
does not have a functioning Board to engage with.
Additionally, Mr. Reed has been entirely unresponsive to date.
These circumstances have left us with no choice but to
nominate a slate of highly qualified and independent candidates
with the relevant skill sets required to address the Company's
serious shortcomings. The Committee has nominated
Jeffrey T. Glidden, Jeffrey V. Hembrock, Edwin R. Lozano, James
G. McRitchie and Matthew D.
Tekulsky, who are committed to dramatically improving Reed's
operating performance and instituting best in class governance
practices at Reed's."
The Committee's nominees are:
- Jeffrey T. Glidden –
twenty-five years of experience in global operations, supply chain
optimization, and general management with expertise in the consumer
foods and beverages industry.
- Jeffrey V. Hembrock –
over 38 years of experience in the brewing industry holding
numerous senior executive positions at Miller Brewing Company.
- Edwin R. Lozano – over 25
years of experience in sales, marketing and general management with
expertise in the consumer foods and beverages industry.
- James G. McRitchie –
highly regarded expert in corporate governance with a long-standing
dedication to shareholder advocacy.
- Matthew D. Tekulsky –
long-term investor in Reed's with substantial financial expertise
with an emphasis in the consumer foods and beverages industry.
Investor Contact:
Edwin R. Lozano
The Committee to Rescue Reed's
erlozano@rcn.com
Andrew M. Freedman
Olshan Frome Wolosky LLP
AFreedman@olshanlaw.com
INFORMATION CONCERNING THE
PARTICIPANTS
Edwin R. Lozano, together with
the other the participants named herein (collectively, "The
Committee to Rescue Reed's") intends to file a preliminary proxy
statement and accompanying proxy card with the Securities and
Exchange Commission ("SEC") to be used to solicit votes for the
election of their slate of five highly-qualified director nominees
at the 2016 annual meeting of stockholders of Reed's, Inc., a
Delaware corporation (the
"Company").
THE COMMITTEE TO RESCUE REED'S STRONGLY ADVISES ALL STOCKHOLDERS
OF THE COMPANY TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT AND OTHER PROXY
MATERIALS AS THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN
IMPORTANT INFORMATION. SUCH PROXY MATERIALS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT NO
CHARGE ON THE SEC'S WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.SEC.GOV. IN ADDITION,
THE PARTICIPANTS IN THIS PROXY SOLICITATION WILL PROVIDE COPIES OF
THE PROXY STATEMENT WITHOUT CHARGE, WHEN AVAILABLE, UPON REQUEST.
REQUESTS FOR COPIES SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO THE PARTICIPANTS' PROXY
SOLICITOR.
The participants in the proxy solicitation are Jeffrey T. Glidden, Jeffrey V. Hembrock, Edwin R. Lozano, James
G. McRitchie, Gary W. Spiro
and Mathew D. Tekulsky
(collectively, the "Participants"). As of the date hereof, Mr.
Lozano beneficially owned 125,954 shares of Common Stock. As of the
date hereof, Mr. McRitchie beneficially owned 22,779 shares of
Common Stock. As of the date hereof, Mr. Spiro beneficially owned
94,051 shares of Common Stock. As of the date hereof, Mr. Tekulsky
beneficially owned 107,500 shares of Common Stock. As of the date
hereof, Messrs. Glidden and Hembrock do not beneficially own any
shares of Common Stock.
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SOURCE The Committee to Rescue Reed’s