LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Turning Point Brands, Inc. (NYSE: TPB), a leading provider of Other
Tobacco Products (“OTP”), today announced that Robert Lavan has been
appointed as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, effective
immediately. Brian Wigginton, the Company’s current Chief Accountant,
will be promoted to Vice President – Finance, Chief Accounting Officer
and Brad Beard, the Company’s current Controller, will be promoted to
Vice President – Finance, Business Planning.
Mr. Lavan has an extensive background with both publicly traded and
private-equity backed companies and brings to the Company experience in
developing eCommerce platforms, expanding distribution networks, IT
infrastructure and execution of mergers and acquisitions. In 2017, Mr.
Lavan served as Chief Financial Officer of General Wireless Operations,
Inc., where he was responsible for revamping the company’s financial
reporting systems and building a robust distribution platform that
linked multiple eCommerce sites and Amazon. Before that, Mr. Lavan
worked at Standard General LP, The Blackstone Group, SAC Capital and J.
Goldman & Co. LP in various analyst and portfolio manager roles covering
a wide range of industries, including tobacco, packaging and eCommerce.
Standard General LP is the majority shareholder of Standard Diversified
Opportunities Inc. (OTC:SDOI), TPB’s majority shareholder. Mr. Lavan has
a B.S. in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.
Commenting on the appointment, TPB’s President and CEO Larry Wexler
said, “We are thrilled to welcome Bobby to our leadership team as we
enter our next stage of growth. We certainly expect that Bobby’s depth
of experience with acquisitions, transaction finance, accounting and
negotiations will prove to be an invaluable asset as we continue to
scale and expand our operations.”
Mr. Lavan will succeed the Company’s previous CFO, Mark A. Stegeman, who
has resigned from his positions as Senior Vice President and CFO,
effective immediately. Mr. Stegeman’s departure does not reflect any
disagreement with the Company and is not related to the Company’s
operational performance or financial condition.
Mr. Wexler commented, “On behalf of the entire Turning Point Brands
team, we’d like to thank Mark for his hard work and dedication during
his tenure with the Company, including his significant contributions in
guiding us through our IPO. Mark also led our team in the simplification
of our credit arrangements, reducing our interest expense and providing
greater flexibility in the execution of our growth and acquisition
strategies. We wish him success in his future endeavors.”
TPB today also announced the appointment of Brian Wigginton to serve as
TPB’s Vice President – Finance, Chief Accounting Officer (“CAO”) and the
appointment of Brad Beard to Vice President – Finance, Business Planning.
Mr. Wigginton joined TPB in November 2016 as Vice President and Chief
Accountant. Mr. Wigginton joined TPB from GE Appliances, where he first
served as technical controller and later as Assistant Controller,
serving as an accounting resource for the appliance and lighting
businesses with annual revenues exceeding $8.9 billion. Before GE
Appliances, Mr. Wigginton was a Senior Manager at Ernst & Young LLP,
where he spent over 9 years in a variety of senior accounting roles. Mr.
Wigginton holds a B.S. in accounting and a B.A. in management from the
University of Kentucky and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Mr. Beard joined TPB in October 2016 as Vice President and Controller.
Mr. Beard has more than 20 years of experience in financial and
accounting operations and has served in a variety of roles for both
public and private companies. Earlier in his career, Mr. Beard served as
an Audit Manager for Ernst & Young LLP. Mr. Beard is a Certified Public
Accountant and earned a B.S. in accounting from the University of
Kentucky.
Mr. Wexler commented, “Brian’s keen financial acumen makes him the ideal
Chief Accounting Officer. Brad has worked feverishly integrating and
driving reporting standards for the three important acquisitions we have
done over the past year.”
About Turning Point Brands, Inc.
Louisville, Kentucky based Turning Point Brands, Inc. (NYSE: TPB) is a
leading U.S. provider of Other Tobacco Products. TPB, through its three
focus brands, Stoker’s® in Smokeless products, Zig-Zag®
in Smoking products and the VaporBeast® distribution engine
in NewGen products, generates solid cash flow which it uses to finance
acquisitions, increase brand support and strengthen its capital
structure. TPB does not sell cigarettes. More information about the
Company is available at its corporate website, www.turningpointbrands.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements may
generally be identified by the use of words such as “anticipate,”
“believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan” and “will” or, in each case, their
negative, or other variations or comparable terminology. These
forward-looking statements include all matters that are not historical
facts. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances
that may or may not occur in the future. As a result, actual events may
differ materially from those expressed in or suggested by the
forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement made by TPB in
this press release speaks only as of the date hereof. New risks and
uncertainties come up from time to time, and it is impossible for TPB to
predict these events or how they may affect it. TPB has no obligation,
and does not intend, to update any forward-looking statements after the
date hereof, except as required by federal securities laws.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180313006418/en/
Mozaic Investor Relations, Inc.
Terry McWilliams, President,
502-774-9238
ir@tpbi.com
Source: Turning Point Brands, Inc.