BOSTON and DALLAS, July 2,
2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of
Santander Consumer USA Holdings
Inc. (SCUSA) (NYSE: SC) today announced the appointment of
Jason A. Kulas as Chief Executive
Officer. Mr. Kulas succeeds Thomas G.
Dundon, the company's former Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer, in line with SCUSA's Board-approved succession plan. Mr.
Dundon will continue to serve as a member of the SCUSA Board of
Directors and as a senior adviser to the company.
After successfully growing the SCUSA business over the last 20
years, including nine years as CEO, Mr. Dundon has decided to
pursue new opportunities.
The Board of SCUSA has appointed Lead Outside Director
Stephen Ferriss as interim Chairman,
effective until the July 15 SCUSA
annual meeting.
SCUSA will host a conference call at 5:15
p.m. Eastern Time today. Details are provided below.
Mr. Dundon said: "I am proud to have been part of the company's
success and fortunate to have worked with so many outstanding,
driven colleagues over the years. This is a great company and with
Jason Kulas at the helm, supported
by our talented management team, I am confident SCUSA will become
an even stronger player in the consumer finance industry."
Scott Powell, Chief Executive
Officer of Santander Holdings USA
and head of Santander's operations in the
United States, said: "We thank Tom for his vision and
leadership as a founder of SCUSA, and a driver of its growth and
success. Jason Kulas has the
experience and strategic vision to lead SCUSA. Jason has been with
SCUSA for eight years and has a deep understanding of its business,
operations and people. I am confident in his ability to lead this
business into the future."
Mr. Kulas joined the company in 2007 as Chief Financial Officer,
after covering SCUSA, since its founding, as an investment banker
at JPMorgan. As CFO, he oversaw the company's treasury, accounting,
financial planning, capital markets and corporate strategy
divisions. Mr. Kulas became President in 2013 and, since SCUSA's
IPO in 2014, has overseen the company's corporate development,
asset management, investor relations and various regulatory
functions including the Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review.
Mr. Kulas will join the Board of Directors of SCUSA and, subject to
regulatory approvals, Santander Holdings USA.
Mr. Kulas said: "I am honored by the Board's decision to name me
as Tom's successor. Tom was pivotal in growing the Company from a
local start-up to a leading, national technology-driven consumer
finance business. The changes in Tom's role at SCUSA have been
amicably agreed and are unrelated to the company's performance or
regulatory standing. On behalf of the company's management team, I
thank him for his valuable contributions and wish him well in his
future endeavors. This is an exciting time for the business and I
look forward to working with my colleagues as we seek to grow the
business in the months and years ahead."
Jason Grubb, Chief Operating
Officer, Originations of SCUSA, will succeed Mr. Kulas as
President. Mr. Grubb joined SCUSA in 2004 as Senior Vice President
of Servicing. He was Chief Operating Officer from January 2007 to October
2014 and became Chief Operating Officer, Originations in
October 2014. Prior to joining SCUSA,
Mr. Grubb held positions at WFS Financial, Nissan Motor
Acceptance Corp, and Commercial Financial Services.
Jennifer Popp has been appointed
interim Chief Financial Officer of SCUSA while a search is underway
for a permanent replacement. Ms. Popp has served in the finance
industry since 2001, and joined SCUSA in July 2012. She most recently served as Chief
Accounting Officer and Deputy Chief Financial Officer.
In connection with Mr. Dundon's departure as SCUSA's Chief
Executive Officer, Santander Holdings USA will, subject to the applicable regulatory
approvals, exercise a call option to acquire all of the
approximately 9.68% of SCUSA common stock held by DDFS LLC, an
entity solely owned by Mr. Dundon.
Additional details regarding Mr. Dundon's separation will be
filed by SCUSA with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Conference Call Information
SCUSA will host a conference call on July
2, 2015, at 5:15 p.m. Eastern
Time that will be accessible by dialing 844-856-2691 (U.S.
domestic), or 815-926-1990 (international), conference ID 77083269.
Please dial in 10 minutes prior to the start of the call. The
conference call will also be accessible via live audio webcast
through the Investor Relations section of the corporate website at
http://investors.santanderconsumerusa.com. Choose "Events" and
select the information pertaining to the Company Update –
July 2, 2015. Please visit the
website at least 15 minutes prior to the call to register, download
and install any necessary software.
For those unable to listen to the live broadcast, a replay will
be available on the company's website or by dialing 855-859-2056
(U.S. domestic), or 404-537-3406 (international), conference ID
24853184, approximately two hours after the event. The dial-in
replay will be available for two weeks after the conference call,
and the webcast replay will be available through July 2, 2016.
About Santander
Santander Consumer USA
Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SC) ("SCUSA") is a full-service,
technology-driven consumer finance company focused on vehicle
finance and personal lending products. The company, which began
originating retail installment contracts in 1997, has a managed
assets portfolio of more than $46
billion (as of March 31,
2015), has more than two million customers across all credit
grades, and is headquartered in Dallas. (www.santanderconsumerusa.com)
Santander Holdings USA, Inc.
(SHUSA) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Banco Santander, S.A.
(NYSE: SAN). Banco Santander is a diversified global retail and
commercial bank offering a wide range of financial products to 117
million customers worldwide. SHUSA owns 100% of Santander Bank, N.A., a retail and commercial
bank with 703 branches and 9,703 employees in the U.S. northeast,
and 59.03% of the common stock of Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SC), a Dallas, Texas-based national vehicle finance
and personal lending company. For more information about
Santander Bank, visit
www.santanderbank.com. For more information about Santander
Consumer USA, visit
www.santanderconsumerusa.com.
CONTACTS:
Media Queries:
Peter Greiff, Santander
Holdings USA, Inc.
(617) 757-5777
pgreiff@santander.us
Laurie Kight, Santander
Consumer USA Holdings
Inc.
(214) 801-6455
lkight@santanderconsumerusa.com
Investor/Analyst Contact:
Andrew Withers, Santander
Holdings USA, Inc.
(617) 757-3524
awithers@santander.us
Evan Black & Kristina Carbonneau, Santander Consumer
USA Holdings Inc.
(800) 493-8219
investorrelations@santanderconsumerusa.com
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SOURCE Santander Consumer USA
Holdings Inc.