AeroVironment Announces Leadership Transition Plan
April 04 2016 - 9:10AM
Business Wire
Wahid Nawabi to Become Chief Executive
Officer, Effective May 2, 2016
Tim Conver Announces Retirement as CEO,
Effective May 1; Will Continue to Serve as Chairman of the Board of
Directors
AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV) today announced that its
Board of Directors has appointed Wahid Nawabi, currently president
and chief operating officer, as chief executive officer and a
member of the Board of Directors, effective May 2, 2016. Mr. Nawabi
succeeds Tim Conver, who will retire as CEO effective May 1, 2016,
and remain chairman of the Board.
“The AeroVironment Board, with my full support, has selected an
outstanding and proven leader at a time when our management team is
strong and our opportunities are great. This is the right time for
Wahid Nawabi to transition to CEO of AeroVironment,” said Mr.
Conver. “Throughout his tenure at AeroVironment, Wahid has
demonstrated exceptional leadership in complex and broad management
roles while executing our strategy and generating value for our
customers. Over the past five years, Wahid has been integral in
supporting and building on our culture of innovation. He is
uniquely capable and positioned to lead the next phase of
AeroVironment’s growth for the benefit of our customers, employees
and stockholders. I look forward to working with Wahid and my
fellow directors to continue supporting AeroVironment as chairman,
with a focus on increasing long term stockholder value.”
“Tim recognized the unique potential of our people and culture
more than 25 years ago and transformed AeroVironment into a
pioneering business and market leader, delivering valuable new
categories of capability to customers in multiple industries,” said
Mr. Nawabi. “Today, AeroVironment operates a strong core business
while advancing a portfolio of growth opportunities, including
unmanned aircraft systems, Tactical Missile Systems, commercial UAS
and electric vehicle charging. I am grateful for Tim and the
Board’s confidence in me, and honored to assume the leadership of
our tremendous team in pursuit of continued growth and value
creation.”
Mr. Conver became AeroVironment’s president in 1990 and has
served as its CEO since 1992. During that period AeroVironment grew
from a private company with annual revenue of $10 million to a
public company with annual revenue last fiscal year of $259 million
and a current market capitalization of more than $650 million.
“The Board maintains an ongoing, deliberate process for managing
executive succession. This announcement is the result of that
process, and began when Tim first approached the Board to discuss
planning for his succession several years ago,” said Arnie Fishman,
lead independent director. “When the Board appointed Wahid to the
COO role nearly one year ago and to the role of president this past
January, we were confident he was the right leader for
AeroVironment. Wahid has demonstrated the skills and
characteristics we knew were required to continue to lead the
company with the success that Tim has delivered over the last 25
years and we are excited to welcome him to the new role.”
About Wahid Nawabi
Wahid Nawabi, 46, has served as chief operating officer of
AeroVironment since April 2015 and as president since January 2016.
He joined the Company in 2011 as senior vice president and general
manager of the EES business segment, where he led the redesign of
the segment’s business strategy and successfully launched a number
of innovative new products. Mr. Nawabi also managed multiple
business process improvement projects, which led to significant
enhancements in operational efficiency. He then directed the
integration of engineering, operations, supply chain and quality
functional organizations into a single corporate shared services
model across both UAS and EES business segments and all product
lines. Before joining AeroVironment, Mr. Nawabi worked with global
technology companies in industries spanning industrial/electrical
equipment manufacturing and clean technology. He initiated and led
the Enterprise/Data Center business at APC, which was later
acquired by Schneider Electric, growing revenue to $600 million
between 2000 and 2008. Mr. Nawabi also previously led C&D
Technologies' Americas business.
About AeroVironment, Inc.
AeroVironment is a technology solutions provider that designs,
develops, produces, supports and operates an advanced portfolio of
Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and electric transportation
solutions. The company’s electric-powered, hand-launched unmanned
aircraft systems generate and process data to deliver powerful
insight, on demand, to people and enterprises engaged in military,
public safety and commercial activities around the world.
AeroVironment’s electric transportation solutions include a
comprehensive suite of electric vehicle (EV) charging systems,
installation and network services for consumers, automakers,
utilities and government agencies, power cycling and test systems
for EV developers and industrial electric vehicle charging systems
for commercial fleets. More information about AeroVironment is
available at www.avinc.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
Certain statements in this press release may constitute
"forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are made
on the basis of current expectations, forecasts and assumptions
that involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited
to, economic, competitive, governmental and technological factors
outside of our control, that may cause our business, strategy or
actual results to differ materially from those expressed or
implied. Factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from the forward-looking statements include, but are not
limited to, our ability to perform under existing contracts and
obtain additional contracts; our reliance on sales to the U.S.
government; changes in the timing and/or amount of government
spending; changes in the supply and/or demand and/or prices for our
products and services; changes in the regulatory environment; the
activities of competitors; failure of the markets in which we
operate to grow; failure to expand into new markets; failure to
develop new products or integrate new technology with current
products; and general economic and business conditions in the
United States and elsewhere in the world. For a further list and
description of such risks and uncertainties, see the reports we
file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our
most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on
10-Q. We do not intend, and undertake no obligation, to update any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
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AeroVironment, Inc.Steven Gitlin, +1 (626)
357-9983pr@avinc.com
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