MORRISVILLE, N.C., Sept. 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/
-- Alliance One International, Inc. (NYSE: AOI) today
announced details of its new organizational structure designed to
support its diversified business lines by fostering greater
collaboration and efficiency. The Company also announced a number
of executive leadership appointments to manage the new structure
and further advance the "One Tomorrow" transformation
initiative.
The new structure will become effective on September 12, 2018. Alliance One International,
Inc., which will become Pyxus International, Inc., on September 12, will primarily be a holding company
and will be led by Pieter Sikkel,
President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors.
"The implementation of our new organizational structure marks a
major milestone in our 'One Tomorrow' transformation strategy,"
said Mr. Sikkel. "The new structure will enable us to focus our
resources to support our diversified business lines and capitalize
on our core strengths in agronomy and traceability as we rebrand as
the trusted provider of responsibly produced, independently
verified, sustainable and traceable agricultural products,
ingredients and services."
As a holding company, Pyxus will provide shared services,
including Finance, Legal Services, Business Services and Human
Resources to all company divisions. Finance will be led by
Joel Thomas, Executive Vice
President, Chief Financial Officer; Legal Services will be led by
William O'Quinn, Senior Vice
President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary; Business Services
will be led by Tracy Purvis, Senior
Vice President, Business Services; and, Human Resources will be led
by Laura Jones, Senior Vice
President, Human Resources.
The Company's Global Specialty Products division, which includes
the Company's investments in the e-liquids, industrial hemp and
legal cannabis space, will continue to be led by Bryan Mazur. In this role, Mazur will oversee
the new business lines, which will have requisite autonomy to drive
innovation and continue to disrupt these fast-growing categories
and diverse consumer markets.
The Company's tobacco division, which will retain the Alliance
One name to honor the history and legacy of the brand, will be led
by Alexandre Strohschoen.
Strohschoen previously served as Regional Director for the
Company's South American region and brings extensive operational
and sales experience to the role as the tobacco division continues
to optimize its global footprint and capitalizes on opportunities
to meet the evolving needs of tobacco product manufacturers.
Graham Kayes, who has served as
Executive Vice President, Global Business Relationship Management
and Leaf, will retain his current role with Alliance One, reporting
directly to Strohschoen.
"This new structure will allow us to create a more flexible and
entrepreneurial environment, giving each of our business lines the
support they need to evolve and grow," said Mr. Sikkel. "Our
objective is to use the advantages we have in creative and
dedicated people, global footprint, infrastructure and scale to
drive continued growth and success in all of our business lines
globally and deliver enhanced value to our shareholders."
In addition, Pyxus is deepening its roots in agronomic services
through the development of a value-added agricultural products
division, which will focus on expanding the Company's footprint
into additional crops. This division will be led by Jose Maria Costa, shifting from his role as
Executive Vice President - Global Operations and Supply Chain.
"Many of our contracted tobacco farmers have been increasing
their production of non-tobacco crops for quite some time,"
continued Mr. Sikkel. "As we work with them to increase the yields
of these non-tobacco crops, our Value-Added Agricultural Products
division will focus on building the value-added processes that will
further support the development of markets for these crops and the
diversification of farmer incomes."
The Company plans to start using the name Pyxus International,
Inc. on September 12, 2018, at which
time the shares will begin trading on the NYSE under the symbol
"PYX." Until then, the Company's shares will continue to trade on
the NYSE under the symbol "AOI."
Further detail on the Company's brand, structure and strategy
will be discussed at the upcoming Investor and Analyst Day on
September 12, 2018, in New York City.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as
defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
These statements are based on current expectations of future
events. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements
about future financial and operating results, plans, objectives,
expectations and intentions and other statements that are not
historical facts. Such statements are based on the current
beliefs and expectations of management and are subject to
significant risks and uncertainties. If underlying
assumptions prove inaccurate or known or unknown risks or
uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially
from those currently anticipated expected or projected. The
following factors, among others, could cause actual results to
differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking
statements: changes in the timing of anticipated shipments, changes
in anticipated geographic product sourcing, political instability,
currency and interest rate fluctuations, shifts in the global
supply and demand position for tobacco products, changes in tax
laws and regulations or the interpretation of tax laws and
regulations, resolution of tax matters, adverse weather conditions,
changes in costs incurred in supplying tobacco and related
services, the impact of regulation and litigation and risks and
uncertainties associated with our new business lines, including the
risk of obtaining anticipated regulatory approvals in Canada, as well as the progress of
legalization of cannabis for medicinal and adult recreational uses
in other jurisdictions. Additional factors that could cause the
Company's results to differ materially from those expressed or
implied by forward-looking statements can be found in the Company's
most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended
March 31, 2018 and the other filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") which are
available at the SEC's Internet site (http://www.sec.gov).
About Alliance One International, Inc.
Alliance One International (NYSE: AOI) is an agricultural
company that delivers value-added products and services to
businesses and customers, and is a trusted provider of responsibly
sourced, independently verified, sustainable and traceable products
and ingredients.
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SOURCE Alliance One International, Inc.
