TIDMALM
RNS Number : 6001B
Allied Minds PLC
10 June 2019
Directorate change and business update
Boston, MA (10 June 2019) - Allied Minds PLC ("Allied Minds" or
the "Company") today announces management changes to align the
Company's organisation structure to reflect the recently revised
strategy, which further reduces operating costs. In April 2019,
Allied Minds announced its new strategy to focus on maximising
shareholder returns from monetising the existing portfolio, while
ceasing investments into new companies.
Jill D. Smith, who has served as President and CEO and as an
Executive Director since March 2017, will retire from these roles
at Allied Minds effective June 10, 2019. The Board has appointed
Michael S. Turner and Joseph A. Pignato to serve as co-Chief
Executive Officers. Both join the Board as Executive Directors. Mr.
Turner has served as the Company's General Counsel since May 2014,
and Mr. Pignato has served as the Company's Chief Financial Officer
since August 2015. Ms. Smith will continue to serve on the board of
directors of Federated Wireless as a representative of Allied
Minds.
Peter R. Dolan, Chairman of the Allied Minds' Board, said: "Jill
was a director on the Board of Allied Minds when we asked her to
serve as CEO. She was tasked by the Board to drive shareholder
value by rationalising Allied Minds' portfolio, strengthening our
most promising businesses, and accelerating and refocusing our new
business creation to leverage our competitive advantages. As a
result of steps taken under her leadership, we now have three
technology companies on the cusp of commercialisation, all
supported by leading strategic and financial partners. Given the
narrower scope of our strategy going forward and the Company's cost
reduction targets, Jill has decided to return to serving as a
director on multiple boards. We recognise and appreciate Jill's
accomplishments and contributions to Allied Minds and wish her
continued success."
"The Board is delighted that Mike and Joe will take on the
co-CEO role, in addition to their current responsibilities as
General Counsel and CFO respectively. They have driven the
transformative fundraisings at Federated Wireless, Spin Memory,
HawkEye 360 and BridgeSat and have strong relationships with the
CEOs of these companies and their co-investors and commercial
partners. Their combination of transactional expertise,
understanding of our portfolio, key relationships, growth
experience and track record of generating portfolio liquidity
events, as well their complementary legal and financial skill-sets,
make them the ideal pairing to execute on the monetisation
strategy."
The Company is making good progress achieving the planned
reductions in annualised costs, consistent with the strategy
outlined in April to reduce costs to $5-6 million annually. Further
reduction in HQ headcount (excluding employees of consolidated
subsidiaries) is anticipated from the deconsolidation of portfolio
companies following successful completion of planned funding
rounds, including at Hawkeye 360 and Federated Wireless, as these
and other portfolio companies move away from Allied Minds' shared
services platform. In addition, current HQ space will be
sublet.
In light of changes to the strategy, the Board has determined to
retire the long term incentive plan (LTIP) scheme for executive
directors, management and other employees. New annual LTIP awards
planned for issuance in May 2019 subsequent to the release of
annual results, have been cancelled and no future awards will be
made to executive directors, management and other employees.
Historic awards will remain outstanding and eligible to vest in
accordance with their terms. A significant majority of the
outstanding awards are subject to relative total shareholder return
(TSR) performance. At the current share price no value is
attributable to these performance awards.
Mike Turner and Joe Pignato commented "Our sole focus is on
delivering maximum value to shareholders from our exciting
portfolio of technology assets backed by powerful strategic
partners. We are well placed to conclude successful funding rounds
at HawkEye 360 and Federated Wireless in the short term. We will
continue to aggressively pursue all monetisation options, balancing
the requirement to deliver cash to our shareholders, against the
overarching objective to maximise shareholder returns from a
portfolio that includes some extremely promising assets."
The appointment terms of Mr. Turner and Mr. Pignato are in
accordance with the terms of the remuneration policy approved by
shareholders. There is no further information required to be
disclosed pursuant to Listing Rule 9.6.13R relating to Mr. Turner
and Mr. Pignato.
ENDS
For more information, please contact:
Allied Minds plc +44 7771 872 922
Neil Pizey, Head of Corporate IR@alliedminds.com
Development
FTI Consulting
Ben Atwell / Brett Pollard +44 20 3727 1000
__________
Joseph A. Pignato CV
Currently serves on the board of directors of several of Allied
Minds' portfolio companies.
Allied Minds plc: 2015-present
Chief Financial Officer
Upserve (formerly Swipely; acquired by Vista 2010-2015
Equity):
Chief Financial Officer
Prism Venture Works: 2004-2009
General Partner, COO and CFO
Charles River Ventures: 2000-2004
Chief Financial Officer
Lightbridge (NASDAQ: LTBG): 1996-2000
Chief Financial Officer
Deloitte: 1993-1996
Senior Staff Accountant
Education:
Saint Anselm College: 1990
Bachelor of Arts, Financial Economics
__________
Michael S. Turner CV
Currently serves on the board of directors of several of Allied
Minds' portfolio companies.
Allied Minds plc: 2014-present
EVP, General Counsel
DLA Piper US, LLP: 2010-2014
Partner, Corporate and Finance Department
Goodwin Procter LLP: 1998-2009
Partner and Associate, Business Law Department
First American Equipment Finance: 1996-1998
Manager, Credit and Operations
Grace Farms: 1993-1995
General Manager
Hussey Seating Company: 1991-1993
Production Scheduler, Major Project Manager
Education:
Cornell Law School: 1998
Juris Doctor, Business Law and Regulation
Colgate University: 1989
Bachelor of Arts, Political Science/Economics
__________
About Allied Minds
Allied Minds plc is an IP commercialisation company focused on
early stage company development within the technology and life
science sectors. With origination relationships that span US
federal laboratories, universities, and leading US corporations,
Allied Minds historically created, and now operates and funds, a
portfolio of companies to generate long-term value for its
investors and stakeholders. Based in Boston, Allied Minds supports
its businesses with capital, management, expertise and shared
services. For more information, please visit
www.alliedminds.com.
Allied Minds Forward-Looking Statement
This press release contains statements that are or may be
forward-looking statements, including statements that relate to
Allied Minds' future prospects, developments and strategies. The
forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and
are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results, performance and achievements to differ
materially from current expectations, including, but not limited
to, those risks and uncertainties described in the risk factors
included in Allied Minds' regulatory filings. These forward-looking
statements are based on assumptions regarding the present and
future business strategies of Allied Minds and the environment in
which it will operate in the future. Each forward-looking statement
speaks only as at the date of this press release. Except as
required by law, regulatory requirement, the Listing Rules and the
Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules, neither Allied Minds
nor any other party intends to update or revise these
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
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