- Peter Allen, CFO at Export Development Canada, to become Chief Financial Officer based in Ottawa - Robert Ryan, CFO, becomes Vice-President, Corporate Development
OTTAWA, May 13 /CNW Telbec/ - Allen-Vanguard Corporation (the "Company" or "Allen-Vanguard") (TSX: VRS) of Ottawa, Canada today reported the following changes to senior management.
Peter Allen, currently Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer at Export Development Canada (EDC), will be appointed CFO of Allen Vanguard effective June 1, 2008. Robert Ryan, who has been the Company's CFO since January 2004 will become Vice-President, Corporate Development, and will remain based in Toronto.
"Following a period of transformational acquisition and corporate finance activity over the past year, our primary focus is now on execution to capitalize on the enormous potential of our global platform," said David E. Luxton, President and CEO. "We also have underway a very active alliance and partnering program with prime defense contractors and systems integrators. Rob Ryan, who has been a key architect of our most important partner relationships, will now focus exclusively on these and other external opportunities and will also assist our investor relations activities."
Mr. Allen, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario, has more than 25 years experience as a financial executive, including 18 years as CFO, in a broad range of Canadian private and public corporations, most recently at EDC where he has been very involved in the defense and aerospace industries. Previous to this he was CFO of Nav Canada, Canada's civil air navigation system, and Vice-President, Finance at Merisel Canada Inc., Canada's largest distributor of computer hardware and software. Mr. Allen is a licensed commercial airline pilot, and has twice been nominated as Canada's CFO of the Year. "We welcome Peter to the Company at our Ottawa head office, and will value his leadership in a broad range of operational and finance functions including treasury, risk management, financial reporting, purchasing, and strategic planning," said Mr. Luxton.
Robert Ryan joined Allen Vanguard in conjunction with its going-public transaction and saw the Company through its expansion including a series of acquisitions and subsequent financings. His contribution in this role has been invaluable. "We look forward to Rob's ongoing contribution to corporate development activities and focus on many of our important stakeholders, including our strategic business partners such as Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics and other alliance and teaming arrangements in progress," said Mr. Luxton.
The Company also reported that John Lawlor, who recently joined the Company as Vice President, Corporate Relations, has been on medical leave and he has concluded that he will not be able to return to the workforce. "John's physical health has become a serious concern to him and his family in the short time he has been with us, and we certainly understand that he must now attend to this as his top priority," said Mr. Luxton. Allen Vanguard is in the process of engaging an outside professional firm on an interim basis to lead the Company's various communications functions, including public relations, government relations and investor relations with the assistance of investor relations specialists.
In other senior personnel changes the Company reported that Pat Paulin, Vice-President, Finance, has left the Company to pursue other opportunities and meanwhile continues to provide financial services on an advisory basis. The Company is very pleased to announce the promotion and appointment of Kerrie Dickson, Controller, to the position of Vice-President, Finance.
"We are very pleased to have strengthened our financial management capability with today's announcements as we continue to broaden and evolve a world-class management team," concluded Mr. Luxton.
Forward looking statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements, which reflect Allen-Vanguard's current expectations regarding future events, its strategy, expected performance and condition. Forward-looking statements include statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "believes," "estimates" or negative versions thereof and similar expressions. In addition, any statement that may be made concerning future performance, strategies or prospects, and possible future acquisitions or dispositions, is also a forward-looking statement. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and projections about future events and are inherently subject to, among other things, risks, uncertainties and assumptions about the Company and economic factors. Forward-looking statements are not promises or guarantees of future performance, and actual events and results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made about the Company. Any number of important factors could contribute to these digressions, including, but not limited to, general economic, political and market factors in North America and internationally, interest and foreign exchange rates, global equity and capital markets, business competition, technological change, changes in government regulations, unexpected judicial or regulatory proceedings, and catastrophic events. We stress that the above-mentioned list of important factors is not exhaustive. We encourage you to consider these and other factors carefully before making any investment decision and we urge you to avoid placing undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Further, you should be aware that the Company disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any such forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, prior to the release of the next Management Discussion and Analysis to be released by the Company or except as required by law .
About Allen-Vanguard
Allen-Vanguard Corporation supports the mission of military and homeland security forces around the world with leading proprietary solutions for protection and counter-measures against hazardous devices of all kinds, whether chemical, biological, radiological or explosive (CBRNE), including improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and remotely controlled IEDs (RCIEDs). Allen-Vanguard equipment is in service in more than 120 countries. Products include Electronic Counter-Measures ("ECM") equipment for jamming remote detonation of terrorist devices, specialty security equipment for Explosive Ordnance Disposal ("EOD"), remote intervention robots for hazardous applications, and personal protective wear for use in dealing with explosive and bio-chemical agents. Allen-Vanguard is the developer and/or sole, worldwide licensee of proprietary technologies such as the Med-Eng bomb suit, the Defender(TM) and Vanguard(TM) Mk2 bomb disposal robots, and the Universal Containment System and CASCAD Foam system for blast mitigation and decontamination of bio-chemical warfare agents. Professional services encompass counter-IED intelligence, training and advisory services, including the Triton(TM) Report on terrorist incidents around the world. The Company operates globally through its wholly-owned subsidiaries under the names "Allen-Vanguard", "Med-Eng" and "Hazard Management Solutions". Head office operations are located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, with manufacturing operations in Stoney Creek and Pembroke, Ontario; Ogdensburg, New York; Tewkesbury, U.K.; and Cork, Ireland; The Company has professional services operations in Shrivenham, UK, Canada and in the U.S. in Arlington, Virginia, plus sales offices in Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Asia. Allen-Vanguard's shares are listed on The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbol "VRS".
To find out more about Allen-Vanguard Corporation (TSX: VRS), visit our website at www.allen-vanguard.com.
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