Wrap Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: WRAP) (“Wrap” or the
“Company”), a global leader in innovative public safety
technologies and services, today announced a leadership transition
plan to support the next phase of its corporate strategy, which is
focused on diversifying the Company’s suite of products, offerings
and services. The plan provides for the following:
- Chief Executive Officer Tom Smith will be stepping down as part
of a mutually agreed upon separation and Chief Financial Officer
Jim Barnes will be retiring by the end of the year. Messrs. Smith
and Barnes are not departing because of any disagreements or
underlying business issues.
- The Company’s day-to-day operations will be led by an interim
management team that includes L. W. Varner, Jr., who will serve as
Principal Executive Officer, Lawrence Hirsh, who will serve as
Senior Advisor for financial matters, and Glenn Hickman, who is
currently Chief Operating Officer and will remain in his role
permanently. Mr. Barnes will remain in the role of Chief Financial
Officer until his formal retirement.
- The interim management team will be supported and overseen by a
Special Transition Committee of the Board of Directors (the
“Board”) that includes directors Scot Cohen and Kim Sentovich.
- The Board will run a formal process to identify
highly-qualified candidates for the Chief Executive Officer and
Chief Financial Officer roles.
- The Board has appointed director Wayne Walker as its new
Chairman, replacing Patrick Kinsella.
- Mr. Kinsella and Jeff Kukowski are stepping down from the
Board, effective immediately.
Scot Cohen, founder, director and a large shareholder of Wrap,
commented:
“The Board believes Wrap has significant opportunities to grow
and scale as the addressable market for public safety technologies
and services continues expanding. To capitalize on these
opportunities, we need to build on Wrap’s existing foundation by
diversifying our mix of products, offerings and services beyond
BolaWrap and Wrap Reality. We also need to be able to anticipate
the evolving needs of law enforcement and security organizations
around the world. This is why the Board has initiated this
leadership transition and is running a search to identify
executives with qualifications aligned to the next phase of our
corporate strategy. We thank Tom, Jim, Pat and Jeff for their
contributions in recent years.”
Wrap plans to keep shareholders and stakeholders informed on the
Company’s transition plan progress in the weeks to come.
Additionally, Wrap intends to share more details on the next phase
of its corporate strategy once a permanent management team is in
place.
Management Biographies
- L. W. (“Bill”) Varner, Jr., who is Wrap’s incoming
Principal Executive Officer, has significant experience as a
corporate executive and director in transition and turnaround
situations. From June 2020 through November 2021, Bill was the
Chief Executive Officer of Select Interior Concepts. Prior to that,
he was Chief Executive Officer of United Subcontractors, Inc.
(“USI”) from July 2012 to May 2018. During his tenure, he led a
transformation of the business through organic growth and strategic
transactions that resulted in USI achieving double digit EBITDA
margins and an eventual sale, creating significant value for
shareholders. From 2004 to 2012, Mr. Varner served as the President
and Chief Executive Officer of Aquilex Corporation, a leading
provider of specialty services to the energy sector. Under his
leadership, the company grew revenues by fivefold and achieved
record earnings. Prior to joining in 2004, Mr. Varner served as
President for several global businesses in various industries
orchestrating their growth in new markets through expansion of
service and product offerings. He is a graduate of The Citadel in
Charleston, South Carolina, and has served on various
philanthropic, industry and community boards. He has sat on the
boards of directors of Aquilex Corporation, USI and other
companies.
- Lawrence Hirsh, who will serve as Senior Advisor for
financial matters, has decades of experience as an advisor,
corporate executive and director. He is an expert in corporate
finance, capital markets, cost management and strategic planning
for transformations. From 2002 through 2018, Mr. Hirsh was a
Managing Director at Alvarez & Marsal, a leading professional
services firm and provider of interim management solutions. He has
most recently served as Senior Advisor at Alvarez & Marsal. He
is currently the chairman of Sierra Hamilton, LLC, a provider of
engineering and project management services for the oil and gas
industry. He has previously served as chairman and a director of
companies that include The Identity Group, Deep Rock Water Company
and Premier Care In Bathing.
- Glenn Hickman, Wrap’s Chief Operating Officer, is a
proven executive with extensive research and development, supply
chain, manufacturing and software engineering experience. Mr.
Hickman worked at Axon Enterprises (formerly TASER International)
from 2011 to 2019, serving as Vice President of Research and
Development from 2014 through 2019. At Axon, Mr. Hickman led the
launch of six hardware products, all connected to an ecosystem of
cloud software and mobile apps. He created engineering and supply
chain processes and grew the engineering team from 35 to 70. Mr.
Hickman was responsible for establishing the company’s first
manufacturing line in Shenzhen, China, and an optics engineering
team in Finland.
Special Transition Committee Biographies
- Scot Cohen, one of Wrap’s founders, has more than 20
years of experience in capital markets, corporate governance,
finance and strategic planning. Scot founded and served as
Principal of the Iroquois Capital Opportunity Fund, a closed-end
private equity fund, which focused on investments in North American
oil and gas. Mr. Cohen also co-founded Iroquois Capital, a New York
based hedge fund, which managed approximately $300 million across
its family of funds. Prior to that, Mr. Cohen founded a merchant
bank that actively participated in structured investments in public
companies. Mr. Cohen is currently active on a number of public and
private company boards of directors and is involved with various
charitable ventures.
- Kimberly Sentovich is a senior-level executive and
experienced outside board director with over 30 years of
experience. She is currently the CEO of Rachio, a manufacturer of
smart irrigation controllers. She has worked with organizations
ranging from Fortune 50 public companies and private companies to
private equity portfolio companies and startups. Ms. Sentovich has
held multiple operating roles at leading organizations including
The Home Depot, Walmart, Gymboree and Torrid. She has managed big
box and specialty stores, leading divisions with P&L
responsibility up to $19B in revenue. Ms. Sentovich's other
functional expertise includes technology, supply chain, business
analytics and merchandising. She has also served on the board of
directors of One Stop Systems (NASDAQ: OSS) from 2019 to the
present.
New Chairman Biography
- Wayne Walker, who has been a Wrap director since 2018,
has significant experience in corporate governance, finance, legal
affairs and strategic planning. He is the president of Walker Nell
Partners, Inc. (“Walker Nell”), an international business
consulting firm. He focuses on corporate governance, turnaround
management, corporate restructuring and organizational
effectiveness. Walker Nell provides corporate governance and
restructuring advisory services, fiduciary services, litigation
support and other services to client corporations and law firms. In
his role at Walker Nell, he has served on a number of private and
public company boards. Notably, he is the former Chairman of the
Board of Trustees of National Philanthropic Trust, a public charity
with more than $17 billion of assets under management. Mr. Walker
has more than 25 years of experience in corporate law and corporate
restructuring, including working 15 years at the DuPont
Company.
About WRAP
Wrap Technologies (Nasdaq: WRAP) is a global leader in
innovative public safety technologies and services. WRAP develops
creative solutions to complex issues and empowers public safety
officials to protect and serve their communities through its
portfolio of advanced technology and training solutions.
WRAP’s BolaWrap® Remote Restraint device is a patented,
hand-held pre-escalation and apprehension tool that discharges a
Kevlar® tether to temporarily restrain uncooperative suspects and
persons in crisis from a distance. Through its many field uses and
growing adoption by agencies across the globe, BolaWrap is proving
to be an effective tool to help law enforcement safely detain
persons without injury or the need to use higher levels of
force.
Wrap Reality, the Company’s virtual reality training system, is
a fully immersive training simulator and comprehensive public
safety training platform providing first responders with the
discipline and practice in methods of de-escalation, conflict
resolution, and use-of-force to better perform in the field.
WRAP’s headquarters are in Tempe, Arizona. For more information,
please visit wrap.com.
Trademark Information
BolaWrap, Wrap and Wrap Reality are trademarks of Wrap
Technologies, Inc. All other trade names used herein are either
trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective holders.
Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking
Statements - Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited
to: statements regarding the Company's overall business; total
addressable market; and, expectations regarding future sales and
expenses. Words such as "expect", "anticipate", "should",
"believe", "target", "project", "goals", "estimate", "potential",
"predict", "may", "will", "could", "intend", and variations of
these terms or the negative of these terms and similar expressions
are intended to identify these forward-looking statements.
Moreover, forward-looking statements are subject to a number of
risks and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or
circumstances that are beyond the Company's control. The Company's
actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied
in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including
but not limited to: the Company's ability to successfully implement
training programs for the use of its products; the Company's
ability to manufacture and produce product for its customers; the
Company's ability to develop sales for its new product solution;
the acceptance of existing and future products, including the
acceptance of the BolaWrap 150; the risk that distributor and
customer orders for future deliveries are modified, rescheduled or
cancelled in the normal course of business; the availability of
funding to continue to finance operations; the complexity, expense
and time associated with sales to law enforcement and government
entities; the lengthy evaluation and sales cycle for the Company's
product solution; product defects; litigation risks from alleged
product-related injuries; risks of government regulations; the
business impact of health crises or outbreaks of disease, such as
epidemics or pandemics; the ability to obtain export licenses for
countries outside of the US; the ability to obtain patents and
defend IP against competitors; the impact of competitive products
and solutions; and the Company's ability to maintain and enhance
its brand, as well as other risk factors mentioned in the Company's
most recent annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly report on Form
10-Q, and other SEC filings. These forward-looking statements are
made as of the date of this press release and were based on current
expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections as well as the
beliefs and assumptions of management. Except as required by law,
the Company undertakes no duty or obligation to update any
forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of
new information, future events or changes in its expectations.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220124005282/en/
For Investors:
Paul M. Manley, (612) 834-1804 pmanley@wrap.com
For Media:
Longacre Square Partners Greg Marose / Ashley Areopagita
646-386-0091 gmarose@longacresquare.com /
aareopagita@longacresquare.com
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