TROY, Mich., Sept. 20, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Paul V. Schapira of West Bloomfield, MI and former vice president for AlixPartners, LLC/ Questor Management Company, LLC, has been appointed president and chief executive officer of Cignet, LLC, and its six manufacturing companies.
Richard S. Crawford and Patrick T. Greene, founding partners of Cignet, announced the appointment.
Schapira will oversee and direct the management team for the Cignet Enterprise, a group of six manufacturing companies operating in two industry groups, plastics and electronics. They are:
-- Cignet Electronics SAS, Jarville, France. A manufacturer of
instrument clusters and round gauges assembled for Siemens VDO.
-- Flight Systems Electronic Group, Lewisberry, PA and Troy, MI. A
re-manufacturer of automotive electronic controls.
-- Glastic Corporation, Cleveland, OH and Birmingham, England, and
joint venture with Glastic Molding LLC in Mexico City, Mexico. A
manufacturer of engineered composite products for industrial and
electrical applications.
-- Mold-Rite Tool, Fraser, MI. A full-service tooling & molding
company.
-- Plast-O-Foam, Clinton Township, MI. A plastic injection-molding
manufacturer focused on service (i.e., short run parts for auto
industry.)
Since 2000, Schapira served with AlixPartners/Questor Management Company, LLC, the world's largest turnaround and restructuring consulting organization and private equity fund investing in underperforming, troubled, and distressed companies, and worked directly with company owner and founder Jay Alix on a variety of projects including the growth and positioning of the AlixPartners/Questor enterprise.
Prior to this, Schapira served as Vice President -- Business Development with Liberty BIDCO Investment Corporation, Farmington Hills, MI, a lower middle market mezzanine fund that he led the growth in from $8 million invested to $40 million. He also was an assistant vice president in the Detroit Commercial Banking Group for First Chicago NBD/Bank One/JP Morgan Chase.
He is a graduate of the University of Michigan, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in classical studies, and Carnegie Mellon University where he earned an MBA and attended the Graduate School of Industrial Administration.
Schapira is active with a number of professional and civic boards including board member and First Vice President of the Association of Corporate Growth's Detroit Chapter, member American Bankruptcy Institute, member Turnaround Management Association Detroit Chapter, and President and Board Member of ALS of Michigan, Inc.
Additional information on Cignet, LLC is available at www.cignet.net.