TriMas Corporation (NASDAQ: TRS) – a diversified global manufacturer of
engineered and applied products – today announced that it has appointed
Herbert K. Parker, former chief financial officer and current executive
vice president, Operational Excellence at Harman International to its
Board of Directors, effective immediately. With this addition, the
TriMas Board will now consist of nine directors, eight of whom are
independent.
In connection with today’s announcement, TriMas announced that it has
entered into a mutual cooperation agreement with Engaged Capital, LLC
(“Engaged”), a shareholder of the Company. The agreement also provides
that Engaged may appoint its principal, Glenn W. Welling, to the TriMas
Board of Directors, at Engaged’s request in 2016.
“We are pleased to welcome Herbert to the Board of Directors, and
believe that his expertise and insights will add valuable perspective to
TriMas’ Board at an important time in our history,” said Samuel Valenti
III, chairman of the board of TriMas Corporation. “We have made
significant progress in recent years against our strategic initiatives
to enhance our organizational focus, expand our customer markets and
product lines and deliver improved financial performance. I look forward
to working with Herbert and the rest of the Board as we continue to
execute TriMas’ strategic plans.”
“TriMas is a leader in engineered and applied products with the
innovative solutions, scale and geographic reach to drive further
profitability and growth,” said Parker. “I look forward to working with
management and the Board to help enhance value for all shareholders.”
“We appreciate TriMas’ constructive approach and openness to finding and
executing on multiple initiatives to create value for shareholders,”
said Welling. “Herbert’s expertise in operations, finance, and capital
allocation will be a strong complement to TriMas’ Board. I am confident
that TriMas has significant potential for value creation and look
forward to the Company’s future success.”
Under the terms of its agreement with the Company, Engaged will, among
other things, vote its shares in favor of the election of TriMas’ slate
of directors at the Company’s 2015 Annual Meeting. In addition, Engaged
has agreed to customary standstill provisions.
About Herbert Parker
Herbert Parker has served as executive vice president, Operational
Excellence of Harman International Industries since January 2015. In
this role, Herbert is responsible for Information Technology, Internal
Audit and Mergers & Acquisitions. Herbert joined Harman in June 2008 as
executive vice president and chief financial officer, a position he held
until December 2014. During this time, Herbert oversaw a turnaround
effort at the Company which included the reduction of fixed costs,
significant margin improvement, sales growth, and the initiation of a
shareholder-friendly capital allocation strategy, in addition to
completing several acquisitions. In 2014, The Wall Street Journal ranked
Herbert number 10 amongst the top 20 performing CFO’s in the S&P 500.
Previously, he served in various senior financial positions with global
power and technology company ABB Group for 28 years, from 1980 to 2008,
including chief financial officer of the $6 billion Americas region from
2006 to 2008, when he was based in Norwalk, Conn. From 2002 to 2005 he
was the chief financial officer of the $12 billion global automation
division, based initially in Zurich, Switzerland and later in Norwalk,
Conn.
Herbert has lived in five countries and has performed business reviews
in more than 30 countries. He began his career as a staff accountant
with C-E Systems in Chattanooga, Tenn., and progressed through numerous
accounting / finance positions including senior auditor and audit
supervisor, internal audit manager, segment controller, vice president
and business controller, senior vice president controller, industries
division, and chief financial officer automation technologies division.
Herbert earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from Lee
University, Cleveland, Tenn.
About TriMas
Headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, TriMas Corporation (NASDAQ:
TRS) provides engineered and applied products for growing markets
worldwide. TriMas is organized into six reportable segments:
Packaging, Energy, Aerospace, Engineered Components, Cequent APEA and
Cequent Americas. TriMas has approximately 7,000 employees at more than
60 facilities in 19 countries. For more information, visit www.trimascorp.com.
Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Any "forward-looking" statements contained herein, including those
relating to market conditions or the Company's financial condition and
results, expense reductions, liquidity expectations, business goals and
sales growth, involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not
limited to, risks and uncertainties with respect to the Company’s plans
for successfully executing the Cequent spin-off within the expected time
frame or at all, the taxable nature of the spin-off, future prospects of
the companies as independent companies, general economic and currency
conditions, various conditions specific to the Company's business and
industry, the Company’s ability to integrate Allfast and attain the
expected synergies, and the acquisition being accretive, the Company's
leverage, liabilities imposed by the Company's debt instruments, market
demand, competitive factors, supply constraints, material and energy
costs, technology factors, litigation, government and regulatory
actions, the Company's accounting policies, future trends, and other
risks which are detailed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for
the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014, and in the Company's Quarterly
Reports on Form 10-Q. These risks and uncertainties may cause actual
results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking
statements. All forward-looking statements made herein are based on
information currently available, and the Company assumes no obligation
to update any forward-looking statements.
Copyright Business Wire 2015