Bob Evans Names Arby's Veteran Doug Benham as Executive Chair
August 28 2015 - 8:50AM
Dow Jones News
Bob Evans Farms Inc. on Friday tapped Arby's Restaurant Group
Inc. veteran Douglas N. Benham to lead the company in a newly
created executive chair role until the company finds a new chief
executive.
Mr. Benham, 58 years old, was president and CEO of Arby's from
2004 to 2006. He joined Bob Evans's board a year ago and has also
served on the boards of the O'Charley's Inc. and Sonic Corp.
restaurant chains.
The new office of the chair, which will include several top
executives reporting to Mr. Benham, replaces the interim CEO office
that Bob Evans formed in December after its longtime chief
executive resigned.
That office had been comprised of Mark Hood, the company's chief
financial officer, and Mike Townsley, president of the Bob Evans
foods unit.
Mary Kay Haben, the company's nonexecutive chair, will become
lead independent director.
"While we are encouraged by our progress operationally and
strategically, I believe…that this new structure would best keep us
on course as we complete a thorough search process for an
outstanding CEO," Ms. Haben said in a news release.
Bob Evans's longtime chief executive, Steve Davis, resigned in
December as the company's board stepped up a push to revamp the
restaurant-and-food company following an activist-led proxy
fight.
Mr. Davis's exit came two months after he was stripped of the
chairman's post, which followed the election of four board nominees
of the activist hedge fund Sandell Asset Management Corp.
In recent months, Bob Evans has been considering a number of
options for its business.
In June, the company said it was considering separating its
restaurant real-estate assets from its restaurant business. That
came after Bob Evans said in March that it was keeping its food
production and distribution business after a review.
Write to Chelsey Dulaney at Chelsey.Dulaney@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 28, 2015 08:35 ET (12:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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