Shankland Brings a Proven Record of Leading and Growing Events
Businesses
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Emerald Expositions Events, Inc. (NYSE:EEX) (“Emerald” or the “Company”)
today announced that the Company’s Board of Directors has appointed
Sally Shankland to the position of President and Chief Executive Officer
of Emerald. Ms. Shankland will assume her new role on June 1, 2019 and
will remain a member of the Company’s Board of Directors. Phil Evans,
Emerald’s Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, will continue
to serve as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer.
”Sally’s experience, skills and approach are a perfect match with the
Board’s requirements for the Emerald CEO position; and, after conducting
a thorough search over the last seven months, I am thrilled to have her
accept the position,” said Kosty Gilis, Chairman of Emerald Expositions.
“Sally has achieved remarkable success in her career by bringing
inspirational leadership, purposeful strategies and strong execution
skills to businesses with unmet potential. The Board and I have been
particularly impressed by her success in driving growth and capturing
new opportunities by harnessing data, technology, and a strong and
persistent focus on customer satisfaction.”
Ms. Shankland brings over thirty five years of experience including a
tenure of more than twenty years with UBM, now part of Informa plc, a
UK-based multinational events, academic publishing and business
intelligence business. Her most recent position at UBM was CEO of the
Americas, delivering events and marketing services in the technology,
fashion, licensing, advanced manufacturing, construction, healthcare,
and pharmaceutical industries. Ms. Shankland is currently a Principal
and Founder of Astra Terra, a strategic advisory and consulting firm. In
2018, she served as Interim Executive at Healthline.com, the fastest
growing health information site globally. Previously, Ms. Shankland
served two years as President of McGraw-Hill Higher Education, helping
it to transition from a print-based model towards adaptive learning
software.
”I recently joined the Emerald Board as a non-executive director and
quickly realized that I could apply my leadership principles, experience
and skills to improve the Company’s financial performance and growth
prospects,” said Ms. Shankland. “Emerald owns some great assets that are
extremely relevant in their markets and, I believe, have significant
opportunity available to them. I’m very excited about the opportunity to
lead the business.”
“On behalf of the entire Board, I would like to thank Phil for assuming
the role of Interim President and CEO for the last seven months in
addition to his role as Emerald’s Chief Financial Officer. Phil’s
experience and deep knowledge of the Company allowed the Board to be
thoughtful and take the necessary time to find the right leader who we
believe can unlock the vast potential that we see in Emerald,” added Mr.
Gilis.
About Emerald Expositions
Emerald is a leading operator of business-to-business trade shows in the
United States. We currently operate more than 55 trade shows, as well as
numerous other face-to-face events. In 2018, Emerald’s events connected
over 500,000 global attendees and exhibitors and occupied more than 7.0
million net square feet of exhibition space.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
Forward-looking statements include statements regarding management’s
expectations, estimates and assumptions regarding purchases of
outstanding shares of common stock as well as expectations, estimates
and assumptions regarding future operating results and investment,
dividend payments, M&A activity, debt extinguishment, and other
information that is not historical information. When used in this press
release, the terms or phrases such as “anticipates,” “believes,”
“projects,” “plans,” “intends,” “expects,” “might,” “may,” “estimates,”
“could,” “should,” “would,” “will likely continue,” and variations of
such words or similar expressions are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. Although our expectations, estimates and
assumptions are expressed in good faith and with what we believe is a
reasonable basis, there can be no assurance that these expectations,
estimates and assumptions will be realized. There are a number of risks
and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ
materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements which
are included in this press release including availability of capital to
repurchase shares of our common stock and our ability to do so in
compliance with our obligations under the agreements governing our
outstanding indebtedness; our ability to continue to pay dividends, pay
down debt, and identify and execute acquisition opportunities; and other
risks and uncertainties described in the Company’s Annual Report on Form
10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, and the Company’s Forms 10-Q
and 8-K. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise
any of the forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contacts
Emerald Expositions Events, Inc.
Philip
Evans, 1-866-339-4688 (866EEXINVT)
Chief Financial Officer
[email protected]
