LOS ANGELES, Sept. 05, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reed’s, Inc. (NYSE American:REED), owner of America’s #1 selling Ginger Beer and the nation’s leading portfolio of handcrafted, all-natural beverages, today announced that Jim Bass and Scott R. Grossman have been included on the Company’s slate of director candidates being presented by the Company to all shareholders for the annual shareholder meeting on September 29, 2017.
Jim Bass retired from the position of Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Sony Interactive Entertainment America, LLC where he started in July of 2002. Mr. Bass joined the company as Vice President of Finance in November 1996. Mr. Bass has more than 25 years of financial and international management experience and was responsible for all the company’s financial operations including general accounting and financial reporting, planning, analysis and systems, treasury and risk management, purchasing, internal audit, and federal, state and local income taxes. Prior experience includes holding several senior management positions encompassing 14 years with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company gaining international experience running operations in parts of Asia and Europe. Mr. Bass also spent two years at Wang Laboratories as a Divisional Controller. He started his career in New York at the public accounting firm, Haskins and Sells, now Deloitte & Touche. Mr. Bass received a bachelor's of business administration degree in accounting and finance from Pace University, New York City. He is a certified public accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Mr. Grossman has nearly two decades of experience investing in and advising both public and private companies undergoing transformative change, including several companies in the consumer industry. Mr. Grossman is currently the founder and CEO of Vindico Capital LLC, a value-oriented investment firm that invests in public companies driving value-enhancing change, often in collaboration with management to provide advocacy and insights to help unlock value. Prior to Vindico, Mr. Grossman was a Senior Portfolio Manager at Magnetar Capital, a $14 BN multi-strategy alternative asset management firm, where he first joined in 2006. For over a decade at Magnetar, Mr. Grossman focused on deep fundamental, value-oriented investing throughout the capital structure of both public and private companies in various industries. Prior to Magnetar, Mr. Grossman worked at Soros Fund Management in its Private Equity division and Merrill Lynch in its investment banking group. In addition, Mr. Grossman is a non-operating partner and current Board Member at Zeitguide, a privately-held research advisory firm that educates leading global executives and their teams on the transformational forces impacting culture and business. Mr. Grossman received an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BA from Columbia University where he majored in economics.
John Bello, Chairman of the Board of Reed’s, Inc. stated “We continue to evolve Reed’s into a world class organization commensurate with its iconic brands in Reed’s and Virgil’s. Jim and Scott provide business acumen and insight that round out an experienced board that is committed to taking Reed’s to the next level. These candidates bring to the Company operational, financial and capital markets experience that will be leveraged to enhance shareholder value.”
Jim Bass commented, "Reed’s and Virgil’s are classic brands. They are superior products that use all natural ingredients, an important differentiator in the growing craft soda category. I am excited to join the talented management team of Reed's and look forward to making meaningful contributions to drive shareholder value.”
Scott R. Grossman commented, “Having followed Reed’s for many years, I am excited to join the Board as the Company begins a new chapter in its rich history. I look forward to working with the entire team and striving to enhance shareholder value.”
Mr. Bass and Mr. Grossman are both considered “independent” directors and if elected will serve on the board until the 2018 annual meeting. If elected, Mr. Bass will serve on the Audit and Governance committees and Mr. Grossman will serve on the Compensation and Governance committees.
In recognition of corporate governance best practices, Stefan Freeman, who served on the Board of Directors prior to his appointment as interim Chief Executive Officer and who now serves as Chief Operating Officer of the Company did not stand for re-election to the board of directors at this year's shareholder meeting. Mr. Freeman would not be considered an “independent” director given his new role within the Company.
About Reed's, Inc.
Established in 1989, Reed’s has sold over 500 million bottles of its category leading hand-brewed craft beverages. Reed’s is America’s #1 selling Ginger Beer brand and has been the leader and innovator in the ginger beer category for decades. The company is the maker of some of the best-selling all natural, handcrafted beverages in the natural and specialty foods channel. Reed’s portfolio is sold in well over 20,000 natural, specialty, mainstream and independent supermarkets nationwide. Additionally, Reed’s products are sold through accounts within the drug, club, mass, and convenience store channels as well as on-premise accounts that include bars and restaurants nationwide. The Reed’s and Virgil’s brands can also be found in a growing number of international markets. Its seven award-winning non-alcoholic Ginger Brews are unique in the beverage industry. Reed’s Ginger Brews are hand brewed, not formulated and use more than a million pounds of fresh ginger combined with spices and fruit juices every year. Reed’s Ginger Brews deliver a delicious and intense ginger bite and burn that can only come from fresh ginger root. The Company applied this same handcrafted brewed approach and focus on high quality ingredients to its award-winning Virgil’s Root Beer. The Virgil’s line of all natural, handcrafted beverages is the top-selling craft soda in the natural food channel and is one of the leading brands within the fast-growing craft soda category.
For more information about Reed's, please visit the Company's website at: http://www.reedsinc.com or call 800-99-REEDS.
Follow Reed's on Twitter at http://twitter.com/reedsgingerbrew
Reed's Facebook Fan Page at https://www.facebook.com/ReedsGingerBrew
SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT
Some portions of this press release, particularly those describing Reed’s goals and strategies, contain “forward-looking statements.” These forward-looking statements can generally be identified as such because the context of the statement will include words, such as “expects,” “should,” “believes,” “anticipates” or words of similar import. Similarly, statements that describe future plans, objectives or goals are also forward-looking statements. While Reed’s is working to achieve those goals and strategies, actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include difficulty in marketing its products and services, maintaining and protecting brand recognition, the need for significant capital, dependence on third party distributors, dependence on third party brewers, increasing costs of fuel and freight, protection of intellectual property, competition and other factors, any of which could have an adverse effect on the business plans of Reed’s, its reputation in the industry or its expected financial return from operations and results of operations. In light of significant risks and uncertainties inherent in forward-looking statements included herein, the inclusion of such statements should not be regarded as a representation by Reed’s that they will achieve such forward-looking statements. For further details and a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, please see our most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as they may be amended from time to time. Reed’s undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.