C. Berdon Lawrence to Retire as Chairman of the Board of Kirby Corporation
October 12 2009 - 5:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
HOUSTON, Oct. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Kirby Corporation
("Kirby") (NYSE:KEX) today announced the retirement of C. Berdon
Lawrence, Kirby's Chairman of the Board, effective April 27, 2010,
the date of Kirby's 2010 Annual Stockholders and Board of Directors
Meetings. Mr. Lawrence has served as Chairman of Kirby since
October 1999. He was the founder and former President of Hollywood
Marine, Inc., ("Hollywood"), an inland tank barge company acquired
by Kirby on October 12, 1999. Mr. Lawrence will serve as a
consultant to Kirby and will remain on the Kirby Board. Commenting
on his retirement from Kirby, Mr. Lawrence stated, "Ten years ago
on this date, October 12, 1999, we merged Hollywood with Kirby,
combining the United States' largest and third largest inland tank
barge companies, and by all business and financial measurements, it
has been a very successful merger. I have really enjoyed these last
ten years, and as you know the tank barge business has been my
life's business career. All successful companies must have
effective succession planning, and I see this move as a small part
of that very important process. Kirby has a great future ahead, and
I look forward to staying involved in my new role as a director,
consultant and as one of Kirby's Chairman Emeritus." Commenting on
Mr. Lawrence's retirement, Joe Pyne, Kirby's President and Chief
Executive Officer, said, "I have certainly enjoyed working with
Berdon over the past ten years, beginning with the integration of
Hollywood into Kirby, and continuing over the years with Kirby's
strategy of enhancing and growing our core businesses through
synergistic acquisitions, and creating enhanced earnings and value
for our shareholders. Under Berdon's watch, we have grown our
assets from $753 million in 1999 to $1.5 billion today and our
revenues from $513 million in 2000 to $1.4 billion in 2008." Kirby
Corporation, based in Houston, Texas, operates inland tank barges
and towing vessels transporting petrochemicals, black oil products,
refined petroleum products and agricultural chemicals throughout
the United States' inland waterway system. Kirby also owns and
operates four ocean-going barge and tug units transporting dry-bulk
commodities in United States coastwise trade. Through the diesel
engine services segment, Kirby provides after-market service for
medium-speed and high-speed diesel engines and reduction gears used
in marine, power generation and railroad applications. This press
release may contain statements that may be considered to be
forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management's
reasonable judgement with respect to future events. Forward-looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results could
differ materially from those anticipated as a result of various
factors, including cyclical or other downturns in demand,
significant pricing competition, unanticipated additions to
industry capacity, changes in the Jones Act or in U.S. maritime
policy and practice, fuel costs, interest rates, weather
conditions, and the timing, magnitude and the number of
acquisitions made by Kirby. Forward-looking statements are based on
currently available information and Kirby assumes no obligation to
update such statements. A list of additional risk factors can be
found in Kirby's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2008, filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. DATASOURCE: Kirby Corporation CONTACT: Steve Holcomb of
Kirby Corporation, +1-713-435-1135 Web Site:
http://www.kirbycorp.com/
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