Barry Sanders, President and Chief
Operating Officer, to Depart the Company January 31 Jim Gimeson
Assumes Leadership at Scotts LawnService as Mark Wilhelmi
Retires
The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG), the world's leading
marketer of branded consumer lawn and garden products, today
announced Barry Sanders, president and chief operating officer,
will depart the Company January 31, 2015, as part of an ongoing
effort focused on de-layering the company to improve operational
efficiency and speed to market.
Since the beginning of the current calendar year, the Company
has eliminated approximately 25 percent of its leadership roles at
the senior vice president level or higher. The Company intends to
have completed the vast majority of these efforts by the end of the
first half of fiscal 2015.
"Two years ago, we committed to our shareholders that we would
improve the focus and profitability of this Company and we continue
to deliver on this promise," said Jim Hagedorn, chairman and chief
executive officer. "The decisions we have made over the past year
have often been difficult, but none more difficult than this one.
Barry's contributions to ScottsMiracle-Gro during his 15-year
tenure were significant and we will continue to benefit from the
result of that leadership for years to come. The decision we
reached regarding his departure came after a series of
conversations with the entire leadership team, including Barry, who
agreed on the need to continue improving our decision-making
processes and eliminate executive-level redundancies.
"While we are the leader in the lawn and garden industry, we are
modestly-sized compared to other leading consumer goods companies.
So when we objectively assessed our organizational structure, we
realized we had more layers of executive decision-making than we
needed. Therefore we decided to further de-layer and divide Barry's
duties appropriately."
Mike Lukemire, who currently leads the North American consumer
business, will become chief operating officer. The entire global
consumer segment will report to Lukemire as will Scotts
LawnService. Strategic planning will report to Hagedorn.
"I agree that continuing to streamline the executive ranks of
the organization is the right move for ScottsMiracle-Gro at this
time and Mike Lukemire, who has been engaged in nearly all parts of
the business during his 20-year tenure, is the right choice for
this role," Sanders said. "While I will deeply miss my colleagues,
I am grateful for having been given the opportunity to help lead
this great company. I wish them continued success as I now look
ahead to beginning the next chapter in my life and career."
The Company also announced that Jim Gimeson will assume sole
leadership of Scotts LawnService. Gimeson and Mark Wilhelmi have
been co-leaders of this business since last summer as part of a
transition plan related to Wilhelmi's planned retirement after 40
years with the Company.
"The changes we have been implementing are the result of an
honest and objective assessment by the entire leadership team and
Board of Directors," Hagedorn said. "I am confident that we
have smartly positioned the Company to fully capture the
opportunities we have to drive growth and continue to enhance
shareholder value."
More About Mike Lukemire
Mike began his ScottsMiracle-Gro career in 1995, and has had
several progressive assignments, including director of operations;
vice president of manufacturing; and senior vice president of
global supply chain. After serving as executive vice president of
global technologies and operations, he was named regional
president, responsible for leading the Company's business
development, marketing and sales efforts in the southeastern U.S.
He eventually led the entire North American sales function until
2014 when he was named executive vice president for the entire
North American business.
Mike had 16 years of business unit and operations management
experience before joining ScottsMiracle-Gro, with leadership
assignments at Nabisco, Kraft-General Foods and Kroger. He earned
bachelor's degrees in chemistry and biology at Georgetown College
(Kentucky) and attended the Kraft Executive Management School at
Southern Methodist University.
More About Jim Gimeson
Jim began his career at ScottsMiracle-Gro in 2008 as the finance
lead for Smith & Hawken before briefly leading the global
purchasing team. Afterward, he was named senior vice president
of strategic planning before being named to lead two of the
company's flagship business units, including the iconic Scotts and
Miracle-Gro brands. In that role, Jim led overall strategy,
marketing, brand development, operational planning and tactical
performance of the brands. He was named chief operating officer of
Scotts LawnService in 2014.
Before joining ScottsMiracle-Gro, Jim was president and chief
operating officer for the Longaberger Company, a leading direct
marketing company of home décor products. He earned a bachelor's
degree from Muskingum University and completed his MBA at The Ohio
State University's Max M. Fisher College of Business.
Recorded Comments Available
Chairman and CEO Jim Hagedorn will elaborate further on this
announcement in a pre-recorded audio message that is immediately
available on the investor relations section of the Company's
website at http://investor.scotts.com. The recording will be
available for 30 days.
About ScottsMiracle-Gro
With more than $2.8 billion in worldwide sales, The
Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is the world's largest marketer of
branded consumer products for lawn and garden care. The
Company's brands are the most recognized in the industry. In
the U.S., the Company's Scotts®, Miracle-Gro® and Ortho® brands are
market-leading in their categories, as is the consumer Roundup®
brand, which is marketed in North America and most of Europe
exclusively by Scotts and owned by Monsanto. In the U.S., we
operate Scotts LawnService®, the second largest residential lawn
care service business. In Europe, the Company's brands include
Weedol®, Pathclear®, Evergreen®, Levington®, Miracle-Gro®, KB®,
Fertiligène® and Substral®. For additional information, visit us at
www.scotts.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
Statements contained in this press release, other than
statements of historical fact, which address activities, events and
developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may
occur in the future, including, but not limited to, information
regarding the future economic performance and financial condition
of the Company, the plans and objectives of the Company's
management, and the Company's assumptions regarding such
performance and plans are "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws that are subject to
risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements generally
can be identified as statements that include phrases such as
"guidance," "outlook," "projected," "believe," "target," "predict,"
"estimate," "forecast," "strategy," "may," "goal," "expect,"
"anticipate," "intend," "plan," "foresee," "likely," "will,"
"should" or other similar words or phrases. Actual results could
differ materially from the forward-looking information in this
release due to a variety of factors, including, but not limited
to:
- Compliance with environmental and other public health
regulations could increase the Company's costs of doing business or
limit the Company's ability to market all of its products;
- Increases in the prices of raw materials and fuel costs could
adversely affect the Company's results of operations;
- The highly competitive nature of the Company's markets could
adversely affect its ability to maintain or grow revenues;
- Because of the concentration of the Company's sales to a small
number of retail customers, the loss of one or more of, or
significant reduction in orders from, its top customers could
adversely affect the Company's financial results;
- Adverse weather conditions could adversely impact financial
results;
- The Company's international operations make the Company
susceptible to fluctuations in currency exchange rates and to other
costs and risks associated with international regulation;
- The Company may not be able to adequately protect its
intellectual property and other proprietary rights that are
material to the Company's business;
- If Monsanto Company were to terminate the Marketing Agreement
for consumer Roundup products, the Company would lose a substantial
source of future earnings and overhead expense absorption;
- Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. beneficially owns approximately 27%
of the Company's common shares and can significantly influence
decisions that require the approval of shareholders;
- The Company may pursue acquisitions, dispositions, investments,
dividends, share repurchases and/or other corporate transactions
that it believes will maximize equity returns of its shareholders
but may involve risks.
Additional detailed information concerning a number of the
important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from the forward-looking information contained in this
release is readily available in the Company's publicly filed
quarterly, annual and other reports. The Company disclaims any
obligation to update developments of these risk factors or to
announce publicly any revision to any of the forward-looking
statements contained in this release, or to make corrections to
reflect future events or developments.
CONTACT: Jim King
Senior Vice President
Chief Communications Officer
(937) 578-5622
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