ATLANTA, Jan. 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CatchMark Timber
Trust, Inc. (NYSE: CTT) announced today that Brian M. Davis, previously President and Chief
Financial Officer, will succeed Jerry
Barag as the company's next Chief Executive Officer and join
the company's Board of Directors, effective immediately. Following
six successful years in his role, Mr. Barag made the personal
decision to retire from the company to pursue other interests. He
will be available to Mr. Davis and the Board in a consulting
capacity as needed through April 20,
2020. Mr. Barag will also step down from the Board,
effective immediately.
"It has been an honor to work with the talented team here at
CatchMark and to be a part of the company's tremendous growth,"
said Barag. "Brian and I have worked closely together throughout my
tenure to establish CatchMark's strategy and deliver consistent
cash flow growth. He has been a wonderful partner and is the ideal
candidate to take on the role of CEO."
"Jerry has played a pivotal role in CatchMark's success,
including serving as a driving force of the company's initial
public offering in 2013 and the launch of the Triple T joint
venture in 2018," stated Willis J. Potts
Jr., Chairman of the Board. "We thank Jerry for his
significant contributions in laying the foundation for CatchMark's
future."
Barag joined CatchMark in 2013 with more than 30 years of real
estate, timberland and investment experience. During his tenure at
the company, Barag has been instrumental in CatchMark's success
to-date, including building an industry leading portfolio,
developing and launching the company's first joint venture and
completing one of the largest industry transactions of the past
decade with CatchMark's acquisition of 1.1 million acres of prime
East Texas timberlands through
Triple T Timberlands.
Potts continued, "We are excited to announce Brian's appointment
to CEO as his deep industry knowledge, financial expertise and
vision for CatchMark will help drive the company into its next
phase of growth. Brian is a respected leader with a passion for
developing talent and building high-performing teams. His
appointment is a critical step in our ongoing efforts to strengthen
the company's management team. We are confident that with Brian's
leadership, we will continue to execute on our strategic
initiatives and disciplined capital allocation to drive shareholder
value."
Davis was appointed CatchMark's Chief Financial Officer in
March 2013 and promoted to President
in April 2019. Prior to joining
CatchMark, Davis served as Senior Vice President and CFO of Wells
Timberland Management Organization. He joined Wells as a Vice
President in 2007 after holding various roles at Atlanta-based SunTrust Bank, delivering
strategic advisory, capital-raising and financial risk-management
solutions to large corporate and middle-market clients. Davis has
more than 25 years of experience in business and financial
services, and has held key roles in finance, treasury and
strategy.
He earned a B.B.A. and M.B.A. from Ohio
University.
Brian M. Davis commented, "I am
honored to be given the opportunity to lead this company during
such an exciting time. Under Jerry's leadership, CatchMark has
built a strong business model focused on disciplined acquisitions
of the highest quality timberlands in prime mill markets and
superior asset management services. We have the right team of
talented leaders in place, as highlighted by the recent promotions
of Ursula and Todd, to embark on the next chapter of the company's
growth. I look forward to continuing to work closely with them and
the rest of the executive bench to maintain our focus on our core
strategies that produce predictable, stable and high-quality cash
flow."
As part of the management transition, Ursula Godoy-Arbelaez, previously Vice President
and Treasurer, has been appointed Chief Financial Officer, and
Todd P. Reitz, previously Senior
Vice President, Forest Resources,
has been appointed Chief Resources Officer, effective
immediately.
In 2018, Godoy-Arbelaez was appointed as Vice President and
Treasurer, responsible for overseeing financial operations and
directing financial planning, forecasting and budget management for
CatchMark. Godoy-Arbelaez also serves as Secretary and Treasurer
for TexMark Timber Treasury (Triple T Timberlands), a CatchMark
affiliate. She has over 15 years of experience in treasury,
finance, risk management and accounting with a focus on the timber
and real estate industry. Prior to her current role at the company,
she served as Director of Finance since 2011. Godoy-Arbelaez also
served as Finance Consultant and Senior Financial Analyst for Wells
Timberland Management Organization since 2008.
Reitz joined CatchMark in March
2017 as Senior Vice President, Forest Resources, overseeing all management
operations for the company's various ownership interests of
timberlands located in Alabama,
Florida, Georgia, North
Carolina, Oregon,
South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. Prior to joining CatchMark, he served
as the Atlantic South Regional Marketing Manager for Weyerhaeuser
with operational oversight for all log and pulpwood production from
East Alabama to Virginia. He has more than 20 years of timber
industry experience, working for Weyerhaeuser, Plum Creek and Stone
Container Corporation. Reitz has extensive marketing, harvesting,
silviculture and business development experience across the U.S.
South from East Texas to
Virginia.
Full Year 2019 Outlook
Davis also remarked, "Based on preliminary, unaudited results,
we expect to meet our full year 2019 guidance. We will be
issuing fourth quarter and full year 2019 results, as well as 2020
guidance, on February 13, 2020."
About CatchMark
CatchMark (NYSE: CTT) seeks to deliver consistent and growing
per share cash flow from disciplined acquisitions and superior
management of prime timberlands located in high demand U.S. mill
markets. Concentrating on maximizing cash flows throughout business
cycles, the company strategically harvests its high-quality
timberlands to produce durable revenue growth and takes advantage
of proximate mill markets, which provide a reliable outlet for
merchantable inventory. Headquartered in Atlanta and focused exclusively on timberland
ownership and management, CatchMark began operations in 2007 and
owns interests in 1.5 million acres* of timberlands located in
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North
Carolina, Oregon,
South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. For more information, visit
www.catchmark.com.
* As of September 30, 2019
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
Such forward-looking statements can generally be identified by our
use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "expect,"
"intend," "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "continue," or other
similar words. However, the absence of these or similar words or
expressions does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking.
Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance and
are based on certain assumptions, discuss future expectations,
describe plans and strategies, contain projections of results of
operations or of financial condition or state other forward-looking
information. Forward-looking statements in this report include that
we will continue to execute on our strategic initiatives and
disciplined capital allocation to drive shareholder value and that
we expect to meet our full year guidance. Risks and uncertainties
that could cause our actual results to differ from these
forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to,
(i) we may not generate the harvest volumes from our timberlands
that we currently anticipate; (ii) the demand for our timber may
not increase at the rate we currently anticipate or at all due to
changes in general economic and business conditions in the
geographic regions where our timberlands are located; (iii) the
cyclical nature of the real estate market generally, including
fluctuations in demand and valuations, may adversely impact our
ability to generate income and cash flow from sales of
higher-and-better use properties; (iv) timber prices may not
increase at the rate we currently anticipate or could decline,
which would negatively impact our revenues; (v) the supply of
timberlands available for acquisition that meet our investment
criteria may be less than we currently anticipate; (vi) we may be
unsuccessful in winning bids for timberland that are sold through
an auction process; (vii) we may not be able sell large
dispositions of timberland in capital recycling transactions at
prices that are attractive to us or at all; (viii) we may not be
able to access external sources of capital at attractive rates or
at all; (ix) potential increases in interest rates could have a
negative impact on our business; (x) our share repurchase program
may not be successful in improving stockholder value over the
long-term; (xi) our joint venture strategy may not enable us to
access non-dilutive capital and enhance our ability to make
acquisitions; (xii) we may not be successful in effectively
managing the Triple T joint venture and the anticipated benefits of
the joint venture may not be realized, including that our asset
management fee could be deferred or decreased, we may not earn an
incentive-based promote and our investment in the joint venture may
lose value; and (xiii) the factors described in Part I, Item 1A.
Risk Factors of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year
ended December 31, 2018 and our other
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Accordingly,
readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this
press release. We undertake no obligation to update our
forward-looking statements, except as required by law.
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/catchmarks-jerry-barag-to-pass-reins-to-president-and-chief-financial-officer-brian-m-davis-as-next-chief-executive-officer-300990622.html
SOURCE CatchMark Timber Trust, Inc.