Brings Broad-Based Leadership and Experience
Running Global, Scale Beverage and Route-Based
Businesses
TAMPA,
Fla., March 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Primo Water
Corporation (NYSE: PRMW) (TSX: PRMW) (the "Company" or "Primo
Water"), a leading provider of sustainable drinking water
solutions in North America and
Europe, today announced that Eric J.
Foss has been appointed to Primo
Water's Board of Directors (the "Board"), effective
immediately. Mr. Foss's appointment is part of the Board's ongoing
refreshment process and follows a thorough search and selection
initiative led by the Board's ESG and Nominating Committee with the
assistance of a nationally recognized executive search firm.
Mr. Foss brings decades of experience as a Chairman, CEO and
executive officer of leading route-based businesses and beverage
companies, with a proven track record of expanding scale, improving
margins and driving consistent earnings growth. During his tenure
at Aramark, the company was recognized as one of the "Most Admired
Companies" by FORTUNE and as one of the "Top 50 Employers" by
Diversity Inc. At Pepsi Bottling Group, he helped lead the company
through its IPO and a subsequent period of significant growth,
overseeing substantial acquisition and integration efforts.
"We are excited to welcome Eric to the Primo Water Board of
Directors," said Jerry Fowden,
Chairman of Primo Water's Board.
"Eric is a respected leader, operator and public company director
in consumer-driven industries and has a successful track record of
driving growth and profitability. We believe his expertise in
scaling and optimizing businesses and building high-performance
teams will serve Primo Water, its
Board and its shareowners extremely well."
With the appointment of Mr. Foss, the Board has been temporarily
expanded to eleven members. Ten of those incumbents will be
nominated for reelection at Primo Water's 2023 Annual and Special
Meeting of Shareowners (the "Annual Meeting"). As previously
disclosed, Stephen Halperin is
retiring from the Board at the Annual Meeting as a result of having
reached Primo Water's mandatory
retirement age of 73.
"On behalf of the entire Board, I want to thank Stephen for his
many contributions to Primo Water
and its Board," said Mr. Fowden. "Stephen served Primo Water with distinction for many years, and
the Board and Company benefitted greatly from his deep experience,
leadership and stewardship. We wish him all the best in his
retirement."
ABOUT ERIC
FOSS
Eric Foss served as CEO of
Aramark from May 2012 and as Chairman
and CEO from February 2015 until he
retired in August of 2019. During his tenure at Aramark, he drove
very strong stakeholder value by dramatically improving customer
satisfaction and loyalty, building a diverse, inclusive and engaged
workforce, and delivered strong and sustainable financial success
by accelerating growth, improving margins, and achieving
consistently strong earnings growth which led to solid shareholder
value creation.
Prior to Aramark, he was Chief Executive Officer of Pepsi
Beverages Company and served as Chairman and CEO of Pepsi Bottling
Group.
Mr. Foss currently serves on the Board of Directors at Cigna and
as Board Chair of Diversey Holdings Ltd. and Selina Hospitality plc
and is on the National Board of Directors of Back on My Feet
Foundation.
ABOUT PRIMO WATER
Primo Water is a leading
pure-play water solutions provider in North America and Europe and generates approximately
$2.2 billion in annual revenue.
Primo Water operates largely under a
recurring revenue model in the large format water category (defined
as 3 gallons or greater). This business strategy is commonly
referred to as "razor-razorblade" because the initial sale of a
product creates a base of users who frequently purchase
complementary consumable products. The razor in Primo Water's revenue model is its industry
leading line-up of innovative water dispensers, which are sold
through approximately 10,000 retail locations and online at various
price points. The dispensers help increase household and business
penetration which drives recurring purchases of Primo Water's razorblade offering or water
solutions. Primo Water's razorblade
offering is comprised of Water Direct, Water Exchange, and Water
Refill. Through its Water Direct business, Primo Water delivers sustainable hydration
solutions across its 21-country footprint direct to customers,
whether at home or to businesses. Through its Water Exchange
business, customers visit retail locations and purchase a
pre-filled bottle of water. Once consumed, empty bottles are
exchanged at our recycling center displays, which provide a ticket
that offers a discount toward the purchase of a new bottle. Water
Exchange is available in approximately 17,500 retail locations.
Through its Water Refill business, customers refill empty bottles
at approximately 23,500 self-service refill drinking water
machines. Primo Water also offers
water filtration units across its 21-country footprint.
Primo Water's water solutions
expand consumer access to purified, spring, and mineral water to
promote a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle while
simultaneously reducing plastic waste and pollution. Primo Water is committed to its water
stewardship standards and is proud to partner with the
International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) in North America as well as with Watercoolers
Europe (WE), which ensure strict adherence to safety, quality,
sanitation and regulatory standards for the benefit of consumer
protection.
Primo Water is headquartered in
Tampa, Florida (USA). For more
information, visit www.primowatercorp.com.
Safe Harbor Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section
21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and
applicable Canadian securities laws conveying management's
expectations as to the future based on plans, estimates and
projections at the time the Company makes the statements.
Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties
and the Company cautions you that a number of important factors
could cause actual results to differ materially from those
contained in any such forward-looking statements. The
forward-looking statements in this press release include but are
not limited to statements regarding the effectiveness of the
Company's strategy and the ability of the Company's leadership to
execute on such strategy. The forward-looking statements are based
on assumptions regarding management's current plans and estimates.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those described in this press release include, among others: risks
relating to any unforeseen changes to or effects on liabilities,
future capital expenditures, revenues, expenses, earnings,
synergies, indebtedness, financial condition, losses and future
prospects; the effect of economic, competitive, legal, governmental
and technological factors on Primo
Water's business; and the impact of national, regional and
global events on our business, including the COVID-19 outbreak. The
foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Readers are cautioned
not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements,
which speak only as of the date hereof. Readers are urged to
carefully review and consider the various disclosures, including
but not limited to risk factors contained in the Company's Annual
Report in the Form 10-K and its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, as
well as other periodic reports filed with the securities
commissions. The Company does not, except as expressly required by
applicable law, undertake to update or revise any of these
statements in light of new information or future events.
Important Additional
Information
The Company, its directors and certain of its executive officers
are participants in the solicitation of proxies from the Company's
shareowners in connection with the Annual Meeting. The Company
intends to file a definitive proxy statement and a BLUE proxy card
with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and
Canadian securities regulators in connection with any such
solicitation of proxies from the Company's shareowners. SHAREOWNERS
OF THE COMPANY ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO READ SUCH PROXY
STATEMENT, ACCOMPANYING BLUE PROXY CARD AND ALL OTHER DOCUMENTS
FILED WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME
AVAILABLE AS THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. The Company's
definitive proxy statement for the 2022 Annual and Special Meeting
of Shareowners contains information regarding the direct and
indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, of the
Company's directors and executive officers in the Company's
securities. Information regarding subsequent changes to their
holdings of the Company's securities can be found in the SEC
filings on Forms 3, 4 and 5, which are available on the Company's
website at https://primowatercorp.com/investors/ or through the
SEC's website at www.sec.gov, and are disclosed on The System for
Electronic Disclosure by Insiders (SEDI) in Canada. Information can also be found in the
Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2022. Updated
information regarding the identity of potential participants, and
their direct or indirect interests, by security holdings or
otherwise, will be set forth in the definitive proxy statement and
other materials to be filed with the SEC in connection with the
Annual Meeting. Shareowners will be able to obtain the definitive
proxy statement, any amendments or supplements to the proxy
statement and other documents filed by the Company with the SEC and
Canadian securities regulators at no charge at the SEC's website at
www.sec.gov and on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and
Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com. Copies will also be available
at no charge on the Company's website at
https://primowatercorp.com/investors/.
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/primo-water-appoints-eric-j-foss-to-its-board-of-directors-301774380.html
SOURCE Primo Water Corporation