Turning Point Brands Names Robert Lavan Chief Financial Officer; Promotes Brian Wigginton to Vice President – Finance, Chie...
March 13 2018 - 2:31PM
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.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180313006418/en/
Mozaic Investor Relations, Inc.Terry McWilliams, President,
502-774-9238ir@tpbi.com
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