Janice L. Fields and Sam B. Rovit to Stand for
Election at 2017 Annual Meeting
James M. Damian and Michael P. Johnson to
Retire from Board at Annual Meeting
Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWLD), today announced Janice
L. Fields and Sam B. Rovit have been nominated to stand for
election, joining Cynthia L. Davis, Andre J. Fernandez, Harry A.
Lawton, J. Oliver Maggard, Jerry R. Rose, Harmit J. Singh and Sally
J. Smith, as part of the Company’s slate of director nominees at
the Company's 2017 Annual Meeting of Shareholders (“Annual
Meeting”). Mr. Rovit was originally nominated by Marcato Capital
Management LP, one of the Company’s shareholders.
In addition, James M. Damian and Michael P. Johnson have
informed the Company of their intention to retire from the Board,
effective at the Annual Meeting. Mr. Damian has served as a
director since 2006 and had previously served as Chairman of the
Board. Mr. Johnson has served as a director since 2006. If the
Company’s slate of directors is elected at the Annual Meeting, the
Buffalo Wild Wings Board will comprise nine directors, eight of
whom will be independent and five of whom will have tenure of less
than one year.
Ms. Fields will bring over 35 years of restaurant and leadership
experience to the Buffalo Wild Wings Board. Ms. Fields has
previously served as the President of McDonald’s USA, LLC, a
subsidiary of McDonald’s Corporation, the world’s leading global
foodservice retailer, from 2010 to 2012. During this time she was
responsible for the strategic direction and overall business
results of the 14,000 McDonald’s restaurants in the United States.
Ms. Fields was executive vice president and the chief operating
officer of McDonald's USA from 2006 to 2010. In her senior roles at
McDonald’s, Ms. Fields identified the opportunity and led the
development of the McCafe beverage menu, creating a $5 billion
business, secured franchisee support for a renovation program,
reformulated Happy Meals to improve nutritional content and was the
executive in charge of competitive assessment, strategic planning
and relationships with 2,600 franchisees. Ms. Fields serves on the
boards of Monsanto and Chico’s FAS, Inc. Ms. Fields has been named
to Forbes’ list of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women, Fortune’s
50 Most Powerful Women in Business list, The Wall Street Journal’s
50 Women to Watch list, and Crain’s Chicago Business’ list of 25
Women to Watch.
Mr. Rovit is a seasoned executive with over 20 years of
experience in the food services industry. He has built and led
consumer retail brands, and managed and serviced complex
manufacturing supply chains. Since 2015, Mr. Rovit has served as
Chief Executive Officer and Director of CTI Foods, a leading
provider of custom food solutions to major chain restaurants and
food manufacturers. Previously, Mr. Rovit worked at Kraft Foods
where he was responsible for managing iconic brands such as Oscar
Mayer, Lunchables and Claussen Pickles. Before that, Mr. Rovit
served as Kraft’s EVP Strategy, President of Planters Nuts, and
President and CEO of Swift & Company. Mr. Rovit also served as
Partner and Director at Bain & Company, Inc. where he led the
firm’s Global Mergers & Acquisitions Practice from
2000-2005.
“We are pleased to nominate Jan Fields and Sam Rovit for
election to serve as new independent directors to the Buffalo Wild
Wings Board,” said Jerry Rose, Chairman of the Board of Buffalo
Wild Wings. “Jan and Sam are both distinguished and highly
respected executives with deep restaurant and food services
experience, and we look forward to benefitting from their expertise
as we continue to execute on our strategic initiatives to drive
growth and create value for all of our shareholders. The nomination
of Jan and Sam, respectively, along with the additions of Andre
Fernandez, Hal Lawton and Harmit Singh, who joined the Board in
October 2016, demonstrates our commitment to enhancing Buffalo Wild
Wings’ governance practices through Board refreshment.”
Mr. Rose said, “On behalf of the entire Board of Directors, I
want to express our sincere thanks to Michael and James for their
years of service and dedication to Buffalo Wild Wings. We are
extremely grateful for their exceptional leadership and numerous
contributions to the Company’s growth and success, and wish them
the best.”
Andre Fernandez, Chair of the Buffalo Wild Wings Governance
Committee, added, “We have been engaged in the process of
identifying new directors as part of our focus on ensuring that the
Board has the appropriate balance of skills and expertise,
including restaurant, food service, consumer marketing and
financial experience. During this process, one of our shareholders
nominated Sam as part of its proposed slate of directors. As
always, we are open to qualified candidates, and as part of our
rigorous review, we held numerous discussions with Sam and
determined that his nomination for election was in the best
interests of the Company and all shareholders. Similarly, we
determined that Jan would bring important perspective to the Board
given her decades of restaurant leadership experience and proven
track record in developing and successfully implementing
value-creating initiatives at the highest level of the
industry.”
Buffalo Wild Wings intends to file its preliminary proxy
statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the
"SEC") shortly.
Lazard Ltd is serving as financial advisor and Faegre Baker
Daniels is serving as legal advisor to the Company.
About Cynthia L. Davis
Ms. Davis served as an executive at Nike for 10 years, most
recently as Vice President of Nike Inc. and President of Nike Golf
from 2008 until her retirement in December 2014. In her role with
Nike Golf, she led the $800 million global golf business, including
all product, marketing, sports marketing, sales, operations,
finance, legal, and human resources responsibilities. Davis drove
innovative profitable growth and a team of elite athletes headlined
by two of the most iconic golf athletes. To that end, in 2013, she
was recognized as one of Sports Illustrated’s “50 Most Powerful
People in Sports”. Prior to joining Nike in 2005, Davis was the
Senior Vice President of Golf Sponsorships, Sports Marketing and
New Media for the Golf Channel. Leading up to that, she was the
President and CEO of The Arnold Palmer Golf Company after serving
as Vice President of the Ladies Professional Golf Association
(LPGA). Davis is a former chairperson of the National Golf
Foundation (NGF) and has served on the Golf 20/20 Executive
Committee.
About Andre J. Fernandez
Mr. Fernandez is the President and Chief Executive Officer of
CBS RADIO. In this role, Mr. Fernandez is responsible for the
overall direction and management of that company, which includes
117 over-the-air radio stations in 26 major markets. Prior to
joining CBS RADIO in April 2015, Mr. Fernandez served as the
President and Chief Operating Officer of Journal Communications,
Inc. from October 2008 to March 2015. Previously, Mr. Fernandez
served in a number of leadership roles of increasing responsibility
at the General Electric Company, including Chief Financial Officer
of Telemundo Communications; Chief Financial Officer and Controller
of GE Latin America; Chief Financial Officer of GE Digital Energy;
Assistant Treasurer of GE Corporate Treasury; and Chief Financial
Officer of GE Capital Information Technology Solutions (ITS)
Brazil. Additionally, Mr. Fernandez has been named to Billboard’s
“Power 100” list which recognizes the most influential executives
in the music industry and was ranked the second most powerful
person in radio on Radio Ink’s “40 Most Powerful People in Radio”
list.
About Harry A. Lawton
Mr. Lawton has served as Senior Vice President of North America
at eBay, Inc. since May 2015. At eBay, Mr. Lawton’s
responsibilities include all functions for the Americas business
unit, including merchandising, marketing, operations, business
selling, consumer selling, and advertising. He also has global
responsibility for shipping, payments and risk, and trust
functions. Before joining eBay, Mr. Lawton held a number of
leadership positions at Home Depot, Inc. from May 2005 until May
2015, including Senior Vice President of Merchandising of
Hardlines, and Senior Vice President and President of that
company’s online business. Prior to Home Depot, Mr. Lawton served
as an Associate Principle for McKinsey & Company from 2000 to
2005.
About J. Oliver Maggard
Mr. Maggard has served as Managing Partner of Caymus Partners
LLC, an investment banking firm, since October 2002, and as a
Managing Partner of its affiliate Caymus Equity Partners, LLC, a
private equity firm, since its founding in 2012. From January 1995
to October 2002, Mr. Maggard was a Managing Director and Partner of
Regent Capital Management Corp., a private equity firm which he
co-founded. Prior to founding Regent Capital, Mr. Maggard held
various positions with Bankers Trust Company, Kidder Peabody &
Company, Inc., Drexel Burnham Lambert Incorporated, and E.F. Hutton
& Co.
About Jerry R. Rose
Mr. Rose served as Corporate Vice President of Cargill, Inc.
from 2004 to September 2012. Mr. Rose began his career at Cargill
as a Financial Management Trainee and, during his 40-year tenure
there, had multiple roles in the Accounting and Finance departments
and gained extensive restaurant and supply chain expertise. Mr.
Rose spent almost one half of his career working directly with a
large number of restaurant chains, many of which were
multi-national. Mr. Rose’s responsibilities included approving
major dedicated supply chain operations and major innovation
models, all of which required a significant understanding of each
chain’s strategy. He drove the strategy for Cargill’s international
investment activities and acquisitions, as well as serving as chair
of the Cargill Business Excellence Committee, which focused on
developing high-performance businesses in Cargill worldwide. Mr.
Rose was assigned to Sunny Fresh Foods, where he worked for 12
years, rising to President in 1995. Under Rose’s leadership, Sunny
Fresh Foods became the first food company to receive the Malcolm
Baldrige Quality Award in 1999. He was a member of the Corporate
Center and a platform leader for the Cargill Animal Nutrition,
Animal Protein & Salt Platform and the Cargill BioFuels,
BioIndustrial & Emerging Business Platform. He is a past member
of the North Dakota and Arkansas State Societies of Certified
Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public
Accountants.
About Harmit J. Singh
Mr. Singh has served as Executive Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer at Levi Strauss & Co. since January 2013. He
is responsible for managing that company’s finance, information
technology, strategic sourcing and global business services
functions globally. Previously, Mr. Singh was Executive Vice
President and Chief Financial Officer of Hyatt Hotels Corporation
from 2008 to December 2012. Prior to that, he spent 14 years at
Yum! Brands, Inc. in a variety of global leadership roles including
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Yum
Restaurants International and Pizza Hut from 2005 to 2008. Before
joining Yum!, Mr. Singh worked in various financial capacities for
American Express India & Area Countries.
About Sally J. Smith
Ms. Smith has served as our Chief Executive Officer and
President since July 1996. She served as our Chief Financial
Officer from 1994 to 1996. Prior to joining Buffalo Wild Wings, she
was the Chief Financial Officer of Dahlberg, Inc., the manufacturer
and franchisor of Miracle Ear hearing aids, from 1983 to 1994. Ms.
Smith began her career with KPMG LLP, an international accounting
and auditing firm. Ms. Smith is a CPA.
About the Company
Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc., founded in 1982 and headquartered in
Minneapolis, is a growing owner, operator and franchisor of Buffalo
Wild Wings® restaurants featuring a variety of boldly-flavored,
made-to-order menu items including its namesake Buffalo, New
York-style chicken wings. The Buffalo Wild Wings menu specializes
in 21 mouth-watering signature sauces and seasonings with flavor
sensations ranging from Sweet BBQ™ to Blazin'®. Guests enjoy a
welcoming neighborhood atmosphere that includes an extensive
multi-media system for watching their favorite sporting events.
Buffalo Wild Wings is the recipient of hundreds of "Best Wings" and
"Best Sports Bar" awards from across the country. There are
currently more than 1,220 Buffalo Wild Wings locations around the
world.
To stay up-to-date on all the latest events and offers for
sports fans and wing lovers, like Buffalo Wild Wings on Facebook,
follow @BWWings on Twitter and visit www.BuffaloWildWings.com.
Statements in this press release constitute forward-looking
statements for purposes of the Safe Harbor provisions under the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements
relate to our leverage ratio, future purchases of shares and
sources of funds for the same. All statements other than statements
of historical fact are statements that could be deemed
forward-looking statements and are based upon the current beliefs
and expectations of our management. We have attempted to identify
forward-looking statements by words such as, "intends," "may,"
"believes," "will," and other comparable terminology. Actual
results may vary materially from those contained in forward-looking
statements based on a number of factors, including, but not limited
to, our ability to achieve and manage our planned expansion, the
ability of our franchisees to open and manage new restaurants,
market acceptance in the new geographic regions we enter
(particularly non-U.S. locations), success of acquired restaurants,
success of investments in new or emerging concepts, unforeseen
obstacles in developing nontraditional sites or non-U.S. locations,
our ability to obtain and maintain licenses and permits necessary
to operate our existing and new restaurants, our franchisees'
adherence to our system standards, the cost of commodities such as
traditional chicken wings and supply chain consistency, the success
of our key initiatives and our advertising and marketing campaigns,
our ability to control restaurant labor and other restaurant
operating costs, the continued service of key management personnel,
our ability to protect our name and logo and other proprietary
information, economic conditions (including changes in consumer
preferences or consumer discretionary spending), the impact of
federal, state or local government regulations relating to our
employees, the sale of food and alcoholic beverages, the effect of
competition in the restaurant industry, our ability to increase our
credit facilities, and other factors disclosed from time to time in
our filings with the SEC, including the factors described under
"Risk Factors" in Part I, Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K
for the fiscal year ended December 25, 2016, as updated in
subsequent reports filed with the SEC. Investors should take such
risks into account when making investment decisions. Shareholders
and other readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date
on which they are made. We undertake no obligation to update any
forward-looking statements.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170327005357/en/
Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc.Investor Relations:Heather
Pribyl, 952-540-2095orAdditional Investor Contact:MacKenzie
Partners, Inc.Bob Marese/Paul Schulman,
212-929-5500orMedia:Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer
KatcherMeaghan Repko/Nick Lamplough, 212-355-4449
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