The Middleby Corporation Announces Bassoul Retirement, FitzGerald Named CEO
The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ: MIDD) (Middleby or the company) today announced Selim Bassoul is retiring from his role as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.
The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ: MIDD) (“Middleby” or “the company”)
today announced Selim Bassoul is retiring from his role as Chairman,
President and Chief Executive Officer. Timothy FitzGerald has been named
Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors. Mr.
FitzGerald has been instrumental in the development and execution of the
company strategy since joining in 1998 and having served as Chief
Financial Officer since 2003. These changes are effective as of February
16, 2019.
In announcing his retirement, Mr. Bassoul plans to focus on his family
and his humanitarian efforts through his Bassoul Dignity Foundation. Mr.
Bassoul will serve as a consultant to the Board.
The company also announced that industry veteran David Brewer has been
promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of
Middleby. During his 12 years at Middleby Mr. Brewer led growth
initiatives of the Commercial Foodservice Group and was responsible for
successfully launching the Middleby National Accounts team, which has
been a critical differentiator in servicing the Middleby large key
customers. Mr. Brewer also has been instrumental in developing and
directing supply chain initiatives over the past several years.
In addition it was announced Bryan Mittelman, Middleby Chief Accounting
Officer, has been promoted to Chief Financial Officer. In his role as
Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Mittelman will work closely with Martin
Lindsay, Corporate Treasurer, also an officer of the company, who has 20
years of senior-level finance experience with the company. Additionally,
Gordon O'Brien, who has served as Lead Independent Director of the
Middleby Board since 2010, has been named Chairman of the Board.
“On behalf of the entire Board, I want to thank Selim for his inspired
leadership of Middleby over the past 18 years,” said Mr. O’Brien. “Under
his direction, Middleby transformed its business portfolio, expanded
globally and enhanced its position as a leading manufacturer of
commercial, residential and food processing equipment and we wish him
the best in his retirement.”
Mr. O’Brien continued, “Many in the industry know Tim well, as he has
worked closely with Selim over the past two decades. Tim has been an
architect of the Middleby business strategy and has led the acquisition
efforts, developing three industry-leading platforms through more than
70 brand acquisitions. Under the leadership of Selim and Tim, Middleby
revenue has grown from $100 million to approaching $3 billion, and they
have created significant shareholder value as the market cap has grown
from $40 million to approximately $7 billion today. As Chief Financial
Officer, Tim not only has led the finance organization, but he has been
involved in all areas of the company and worked closely with each of the
management teams as they have joined Middleby through acquisitions. We
are confident Tim, Dave and the entire management team will continue to
move Middleby forward and we expect a seamless transition.”
“I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Selim over
the past 20 years,” said Mr. FitzGerald. “I am proud of what we have
accomplished with the many talented executives on the Middleby team.
Together we have built a truly unique company of leading brands,
technologies, capabilities and people. We have achieved success over the
years through organic growth, international expansion, innovative
engineering and strategic acquisitions. Under Selim’s leadership, we
have established a strong and lasting culture of innovation and customer
focus. I am honored to serve as CEO and continue the journey with Dave,
Bryan, Martin and our very dedicated management team.”
Mr. Bassoul said, “It has been an honor to be associated with this
outstanding company for more than 23 years. I am grateful for the team
we created and their commitment to the execution of our vision. I am
thankful for the many personal relationships I have had the pleasure of
building with customers, employees and others in the industry over the
years. My heartfelt appreciation goes out to each of our 10,000
employees around the world for their support and unwavering commitment
to customer care and innovation. This is the right time for me
personally to transition to the next generation of leadership. Middleby
is well positioned for the future with a strong team and a solid
foundation. I am blessed to have worked with a dedicated board of
directors that allowed us to implement our strategy. I fully support
Tim, Dave and Bryan in their new roles and I am confident that they will
excel in their new positions.”
TIMOTHY FITZGERALD BIO
Mr. FitzGerald served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of
The Middleby Corporation since 2003. Prior to that, he was Vice
President and Corporate Controller of Middleby from 1998 to 2003. Mr.
FitzGerald has been heavily involved in all strategic and operating
decisions during his tenure, and has been responsible for the Middleby
acquisition and business development activities since joining the
company. Additionally, Mr. FitzGerald has lead the development and had
oversight for the Middleby Worldwide international sales and
distribution operations. More recently he developed the Middleby
residential distribution platform supporting growth for Viking and all
the residential brands. Prior to Middleby, Mr. FitzGerald held positions
at Arthur Andersen in audit and consulting from 1991 through 1998,
assisting clients in restructurings, business integrations, and mergers
and acquisition activities.
DAVID BREWER BIO
Mr. Brewer, a foodservice industry veteran, has spent more than two
decades in the industry both as a customer and a supplier. He has served
as Chief Operating Officer of the Middleby Commercial Foodservice Group
since 2009 and developed the Middleby National Accounts team which
serves the major restaurant chain customers. Mr. Brewer joined the
company in 2007 as President of Middleby’s Pitco division. Prior to
Middleby, Mr. Brewer served as President and General Manager at Lantech
Corporation. Mr. Brewer also held leadership positions at Yum! Brands
Corporation and Chiquita Brands International. Mr. Brewer’s experience
at Yum! Brands has been instrumental to the success of Middleby’s
customer initiatives and relationships with the major restaurant chains.
BRYAN MITTELMAN BIO
Mr. Mittelman has 27 years of finance experience and most recently
served as Chief Accounting Officer of The Middleby Corporation since
2018. Prior to Middleby, he spent five years as a Vice President and
Controller of Knowles Corporation. Mr. Mittelman has also served as
Corporate Controller at Morningstar, Inc. and in finance and accounting
roles at Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics, Dade Behring and Arthur
Andersen. He is a Certified Public Accountant.
GORDON O’BRIEN BIO
Mr. O’Brien has been associated with Middleby since 2001, a member of
the Middleby Board of Directors since 2005, and has served as Lead
Independent Director since 2010. He has been Managing Partner at Cannon
Capital since 2017. Previously, from 2008 to 2017, he served as
President of Specialty Finance and Operations of American Capital
Strategies and from 1998 to 2008 was a Principal and Managing Director
at the firm. Prior to that, he served as Vice President of Pennington
Partners/PENMAN Partners. Mr. O’Brien’s extensive experience with
capital markets and acquisition strategy as well as his extensive
experience as a director on numerous other boards are valuable in Board
discussions regarding the company’s capital structure, liquidity needs
and acquisition strategy.
ABOUT THE MIDDLEBY CORPORATION
The Middleby Corporation is a global leader in the foodservice equipment
industry. The company develops, manufactures, markets and services a
broad line of equipment used in the commercial foodservice, food
processing, and residential kitchen equipment industries. The company's
leading equipment brands serving the commercial foodservice industry
include Anets®, Bear Varimixer®, Beech®,
Blodgett®, Blodgett Combi®, Blodgett Range®,
Bloomfield®, Britannia®, Carter-Hoffmann®,
Celfrost®, Concordia®, CookTek®, Crown
Food Equipment®, CTX®, Desmon®, Doyon®,
Eswood®, EVO®, frifri®, Firex®,
Follett®, Giga®, Globe®, Goldstein®,
Holman®, Houno®, IMC®, Induc®,
Jade®, JoeTap®, Josper®, L2F®,
Lang®, Lincat®, MagiKitch'n®, Market
Forge®, Marsal®, Middleby Marshall®, MPC®,
Nieco®, Nu-Vu®, PerfectFry®, Pitco
Frialator®, QualServ®, Southbend®, Star®,
Sveba Dahlen®, Taylor®, Toastmaster®,
TurboChef®, Wells® and Wunder-Bar®. The
company’s leading equipment brands serving the food processing industry
include Alkar®, Armor Inox®, Auto-Bake®,
Baker Thermal Solutions®, Burford®, Cozzini®,
CVP Systems®, Danfotech®, Drake®, Emico®,
Glimek®, Hinds-Bock®, Maurer-Atmos®, MP
Equipment®, M-TEK®, RapidPak®, Scanico®,
Spooner Vicars®, Stewart Systems®, Thurne®
and Ve.Ma.C.®. The company’s leading equipment brands serving
the residential kitchen industry include AGA® AGA Cookshop®,
Fired Earth®, EVO®, Heartland®, La
Cornue®, Leisure Sinks®, Lynx®, Marvel®,
Mercury®, Rangemaster®, Rayburn®,
Redfyre®, Sedona®, Stanley®, TurboChef®,
U-Line® and Viking®.
For more information about The Middleby Corporation and the company
brands, please visit www.middleby.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release or otherwise attributable to the
company regarding the company's business which are not historical facts
are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The
company cautions investors that such statements are estimates of future
performance and are highly dependent upon a variety of important factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from such
statements. Such factors include variability in financing costs;
quarterly variations in operating results; dependence on key customers;
international exposure; foreign exchange and political risks affecting
international sales; changing market conditions; the impact of
competitive products and pricing; the impact of announced management and
organizational changes; the timely development and market acceptance of
the company's products; the availability and cost of raw materials; and
other risks detailed herein and from time-to-time in the company's SEC
filings. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date
hereof, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly
update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of
new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by
law.
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