Today, on behalf of the Board of Directors of Alico,
Inc. (“Alico” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq “ALCO”), Hank Slack,
the Company’s Chairman, was pleased to announce several leadership
appointments to take effect on July 1, 2019. John E. Kiernan,
who has served as Alico’s Chief Financial Officer for the last four
years, will become Chief Executive Officer. Richard Rallo,
who has served as Alico’s Chief Accounting Officer for the last two
years, will succeed Mr. Kiernan as Chief Financial Officer.
Benjamin D. Fishman, who has been on the Board of Alico since 2014,
and chair of its Audit Committee, will succeed Mr. Slack as
Chairman. Mr. Slack will remain on the Board.
Mr. Slack commented: “It is the right time for
these important leadership transitions, and the Board and I are
confident that they are made in the best interests of all of Alico
shareholders. We have good reason to be pleased with what
Alico has accomplished in recent years. Three significant
acquisitions have now been fully integrated into the citrus
industry leader which Alico is today. The Company is entering
into a new phase wherein it is becoming increasingly well
positioned to acquire new strategic businesses, expand its citrus
operations, reduce debt or return capital to shareholders. I
will be pleased to be succeeded as Chairman by my friend, Ben
Fishman, whose agricultural expertise, financial acumen and respect
for prudent corporate governance on the Alico board these past
years have been a significant factor in our success.”
Ben Fishman is a Managing Director of Arlon
Group, and acts as Managing Member of 734 Investors, LLC, Alico’s
largest shareholder. Arlon Group is a food and agriculture
investment firm with a global network that supports investments
across the entire food supply chain. Arlon was established
by Continental Grain Company (CGC), a more than 200-year-old,
family-owned global agribusiness.
“When Arlon invested in Alico in 2014, we
believed in the resilience of the Florida citrus industry,” Mr.
Fishman stated. “The challenges which Alico has faced since
then, including greening, PFD and other diseases and the
devastation of Hurricane Irma, have forced the Company to
adapt. It has developed stronger customer relationships,
improved operations, and continued a divestiture program of low
returning assets, while the permitting process for the Alico
Dispersed Water Project is completed.”
Ben Fishman further stated that, “The success of
Alico in recent years is due in such large part to our
employees. The Alico team has literally weathered the storm
and emerged stronger and more experienced. The senior
executives running the Alico Citrus division are experts in their
field. John Kiernan has been prominent as the CFO and has
been instrumental in all of our operations. He has led the
team which designed Alico 2.0 and implemented the difficult
elements of that restructuring plan. All of us on the Board
have the highest respect for John and his abilities. He will
be an excellent CEO.”
Since 2015, John Kiernan has led the Alico
Finance team as CFO. Before joining Alico, Mr. Kiernan was the
CFO of Greenwich Associates, and held senior roles with Global
Crossing, Misys plc, IBM and Bear Stearns, Mr. Kiernan commented,
“In many important ways, Alico is the same company that our
founders established more than a century ago. We are stewards
of the Florida land that we own, and we are a leader in our
industry. I am grateful to the Board for their confidence in
me. All of us on the leadership team remain focused on
delivering improved returns to shareholders, and we will continue
to depend on Danny Sutton and Chris Moore to lead their teams with
our shared commitment to the Company’s success.”
Mr. Kiernan continued, “Richard Rallo has been
invaluable to Alico over the past two years as our Chief Accounting
Officer, and I am delighted that he will be taking over from me as
Alico’s CFO.”
Richard Rallo has been Chief Accounting Officer
at Alico since 2017. Mr. Rallo was previously employed as COO
and CFO at American Medical Alert Corp., CFO at Tradewell, Inc.,
and Controller at Connoisseur Communications Partners LP.
About Alico, Inc.
Alico, Inc. primarily operates two divisions:
Alico Citrus, one of the nation’s largest citrus producers, and
Alico Water Resources and Other Operations, a leading water storage
and environmental services division. Learn more about Alico (Nasdaq
“ALCO”) at www.alicoinc.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains 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 forward-looking statements are based on
Alico’s current expectations about future events and can be
identified by terms such as “plans,” “expect,” “may,” “anticipate,”
“intend,” “should be,” “will be,” “is likely to,” “believes,” and
similar expressions referring to future periods.
Alico believes the expectations reflected in the
forward-looking statements are reasonable but cannot guarantee
future results, level of activity, performance or achievements.
Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or
implied in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, Alico
cautions you against relying on any of these forward-looking
statements. Factors which may cause future outcomes to differ
materially from those foreseen in forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to: changes in laws, regulation and
rules; weather conditions that affect production, transportation,
storage, demand, import and export of fresh product and its
by-products; increased pressure from diseases including citrus
greening and citrus canker, as well as insects and other pests;
disruption of water supplies or changes in water allocations;
pricing and supply of raw materials and products; market responses
to industry volume pressures; pricing and supply of energy; changes
in interest rates; availability of financing for land development
activities and other growth and corporate opportunities; onetime
events; acquisitions and divestitures; seasonality; our ability to
achieve the anticipated cost savings under the Alico 2.0
Modernization Program; customer concentration; labor disruptions;
inability to pay debt obligations; inability to engage in certain
transactions due to restrictive covenants in debt instruments;
government restrictions on land use; changes in agricultural land
values; and market and pricing risks due to concentrated ownership
of stock. Other risks and uncertainties include those that are
described in Alico’s SEC filings, which are available on the SEC’s
website at http://www.sec.gov. Alico undertakes no obligation to
subsequently update or revise the forward-looking statements made
in this press release, except as required by law.
Press Contact
John E. Kiernan Executive Vice President and Chief Financial
Officer (239) 226-2000 JKiernan@alicoinc.com
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