Fred's, Inc. Announces Appointment of Chief Executive Officer and Other Key Leadership Changes
February 04 2019 - 4:15PM
Joe Anto Appointed as CEO
Fred’s, Inc. (“Fred’s” or “Company”) (NASDAQ:FRED) today announced
that its Board of Directors (the “Board”) has approved key changes
in its top leadership, including the appointment of Joseph Anto as
Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Anto had previously served as
Interim Chief Executive Officer since April 2018 and Executive Vice
President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary since February
2018.
Heath Freeman, Chairman of the Board, said: “On behalf of the
Board, I want to express how pleased we are to have Joe as our
CEO. As Chairman, I have worked closely with Joe during his
tenure as Interim CEO, and I am looking forward to collaborating
with Joe to write the next chapter for Fred’s.”
In addition, the Board approved the appointments of Ritwik
Chatterjee as Chief Financial Officer, Nathaniel Klein as Chief
Operating Officer and Michael Ladd as Chief Stores
Officer.
Regarding these appointments, Mr. Anto said, “We are very
excited to announce the appointments of Rit, Nathaniel and Mike,
which I believe reflect the strength and depth of Fred’s executive
team. I look forward to continuing to work with these three
outstanding leaders as we execute our turnaround plan for the
Company.”
The appointments of each of Messrs. Anto, Chatterjee, Klein and
Ladd were effective as of February 3, 2019, the first day of the
Company’s 2019 fiscal year.
About Joseph Anto
Mr. Anto was appointed Executive Vice President, Chief Financial
Officer and Secretary of the Company in February 2018, and he was
named Interim Chief Executive Officer in April 2018. Before
that, Mr. Anto served as a consultant to the Company, beginning in
July 2017. Prior to joining Fred’s, Mr. Anto served as Senior
Vice President of Strategy and M&A and in other roles at
MediaNews Group, Inc. (d/b/a Digital First Media), one of the
largest newspaper companies in the U.S. by circulation. Mr. Anto is
the co-founder of RumbaTime, LLC, a fashion brand focused on
timepieces and accessories, and served as the company’s CEO from
2009 to 2012. Before that, Mr. Anto held positions at Harbinger
Capital Partners, ABS Capital Partners and First Union Securities.
He has previously served on the boards of private merchant power
companies Kelson Energy Inc. and Kelson Canada, CIPS Marketing
Group Inc. and RumbaTime. Mr. Anto holds a BBA from Emory
University and an MBA from Columbia University.
About Ritwik Chatterjee
Mr. Chatterjee joined Fred’s as Vice President of Finance in
June 2018 and was named Senior Vice President of Corporate
Development in September 2018. Prior to joining Fred’s, Mr.
Chatterjee most recently served as Senior Vice President, Strategy
& Business Development at Rachel Zoe, Inc. Before that,
Mr. Chatterjee served as Interim Chief Financial Officer of
Microdynamics Group, a private equity-owned invoice and billing
firm until its sale to OSG Billing Services. Prior to that,
Mr. Chatterjee was Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business
Development at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. Before Martha
Stewart, Mr. Chatterjee held positions at Structured Portfolio
Management, a credit investment firm, Harbinger Capital Partners,
Merrill Lynch (now Bank of America), Piper Jaffray Companies, and
CIBC World Markets. He has an BA from Brown University.
About Nathaniel Klein
Mr. Klein joined Fred’s in April 2018 as Senior Vice President
of Finance. Mr. Klein was a founder of North American Lithium
(NAL) and led the restructuring of its predecessor RB Energy
through its eventual sale to Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.
(CATL), one of the largest EV battery producers in the world.
Before that, Mr. Klein served as Vice President at Hale Capital
Management, a private equity fund based in New York City focused on
investing and transforming small and mid-cap companies. Mr.
Klein has a BBA from Franklin & Marshall College, where he
received The Wall Street Journal Award for outstanding academic
achievement.
About Michael Ladd
Mr. Ladd joined Fred’s as Executive Vice President of Store
Operations in January 2018. Before Fred’s, Mr. Ladd served as
Vice President of Stores at Barnes & Noble, Inc. with
responsibility for the store and operations organizations.
Mr. Ladd joined Barnes & Noble from Sears Holdings
Corporation, where he served as Senior Vice President and Head of
Sears Retail with responsibility for the entire store and retail
operations teams. He also acted in corporate and field
leadership roles of increasing responsibility during his 20-year
career with Sears Holdings. Mr. Ladd holds a BA in Business
Psychology from Miami University.
About Fred’s, Inc.
Since 1947, Fred’s, Inc. has been an integral part of the
communities it serves throughout the southeastern United States.
Today, Fred’s operates approximately 600 discount value stores and
its mission is to make it easy AND exciting to save money. Its
unique format offers customers a full range of value-priced
everyday items, along with terrific deals on closeout merchandise
throughout the store. For more information about the Company, visit
Fred’s website at www.fredsinc.com.
Forward Looking Statements Comments in this
news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking
statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those projected in the
forward-looking statements. A reader can identify forward-looking
statements because they are not limited to historical facts or they
use such words as “outlook,” “guidance,” “may,” “should,” “could,”
“believe,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “expect,” “estimate,” “forecast,”
“goal,” “intend,” “committed,” “continue,” or “will likely result”
and similar expressions that concern the Company’s strategy, plans,
intentions or beliefs about future occurrences or results. These
risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to (i) the
competitive nature of the industries in which we operate; (ii) the
implementation of our strategic plan, and its impact on our sales,
costs and operations; (iii) utilizing our existing and new stores;
(iv) our reliance on a single supplier of pharmaceutical products;
(v) our pharmaceutical drug pricing; (vi) reimbursement rates and
the terms of our agreements with pharmacy benefit management
companies; (vii) our private brands; (viii) the seasonality of our
business and the impact of adverse weather conditions; (ix)
operational difficulties; (x) merchandise supply and pricing; (xi)
consumer demand and product mix; (xii) delayed openings and
operating new stores and distribution facilities; (xiii) our
employees; (xiv) risks relating to payment processing; (xv) our
computer system, and the processes supported by our information
technology infrastructure; (xvi) our ability to protect the
personal information of our customers and employees; (xvii)
cyber-attacks; (xviii) changes in governmental regulations; (xix)
the outcome of legal proceedings, including claims of product
liability; (xx) insurance costs; (xxi) tax assessments and
unclaimed property audits; (xxii) current economic conditions;
(xxiii) changes in third-party reimbursements; (xxiv) the terms of
our existing and future indebtedness; (xxv) any acquisitions we may
pursue and the ability to effectively integrate businesses that we
acquire; (xxvi) our ability to pay dividends and/or repurchase
shares of our Class A voting common stock; (xxvii) our ability to
attract and retain talented executives; and (xxviii) the factors
listed under “Risk Factors” in the Company’s most recent Annual
Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly filings on Form
10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made. The
Company undertakes no obligation to release revisions to these
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after
the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unforeseen events,
except as required to be reported under the rules and regulations
of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
CONTACT: Fred’s, Inc. Tejal Patel, Fred’s, Inc. 1-318-348-8709
Tejal.patel@fredsinc.com
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