(Pittsburgh)
The
Meridian Group Captures National Turnaround of the Year Award
PITTSBURGH, PA – September 26, 2006 -
Margaret Good and Thomas Von Lehman of The Meridian Group have been selected
for the Turnaround of the Year Award - Mid-Sized Company by the Turnaround
Management Association for their work in the rescue of R. G. Barry Corporation,
the Dearfoamsâ
Company (AMEX – DFZ). The
award will be presented to Ms. Good and Mr. Von Lehman at the national TMA 2006
Annual Convention in October in Orlando, Florida.
The Meridian Group is an
investment banking and financial consulting firm, headquartered in Pittsburgh,
PA, dedicated to providing turnaround consulting and financial advisory services
to middle market companies.
“I am thrilled that The Meridian
Group is the recipient of such a prestigious award,” said Ms. Good, President
and founder of Meridian. “R. G.
Barry presented some unique and difficult challenges that required a team effort
between members of the Meridian turnaround team and company management.”
R. G. Barry, the U.S.’s largest
wholesaler of slippers and at-home casual footwear, headquartered near Columbus,
OH, got into severe financial trouble in late 2003 as it lost money for the
fourth time in five years, racking up cumulative losses of over $48 million for
the five year period. Its share
price fell from a high of over $16 in 1998 to under $1.50 by early 2004.
The Meridian Group was engaged by
R. G. Barry in January of 2004, and immediately began putting together a
restructuring plan to reverse the pattern of losses. It also was charged with finding a new
lender for the company as it had defaulted on its current bank loan. After accepting Meridian’s restructuring
plan, the company’s Board of Directors asked Mr. Von Lehman of Meridian to
accept the position of interim CEO to enact the plan. Soon thereafter, Meridian was able to
obtain new financing for the company before the bank loan agreement expired.
“The turnaround was very intense
and required a tremendous effort by all involved,” said Mr. Von Lehman. “ However it was also very
rewarding. After another year of
losses in 2004, resulting primarily from restructuring charges, the company made
a marvelous recovery in 2005, earning over $8 million on revenues of $105
million.” Mr. Von Lehman’s
replacement as CEO was hired in early 2006 and he has returned to The Meridian
Group.
“I have never seen consultants
work as hard as Meridian did for us,” said Dan Viren, CFO of Barry. “Working with the management team,
Meridian developed a plan for a whole new business model within six weeks. We operated under that model in 2005 and
exceeded the results from the original plan.”
The Turnaround Management
Association is the only international non-profit association dedicated to
corporate renewal and turnaround management, with 7,100 members in 38 regional
chapters, worldwide.
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