MTY provides additional information regarding changes in senior management
MONTREAL, June 11, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ - MTY Food Group Inc. ("MTY" or the "Company") (TSX: MTY), franchisor and operator of multiple concepts of restaurants, today announces the management changes pursuant to its May 2nd, 2018 announcement according to which Mr. Stanley Ma and Mrs. Claude St-Pierre will be leaving their respective roles as CEO and COO of the corporation on November 2nd, 2018 to concentrate on their Board of Director responsibilities.
The structure of the organization will be adjusted in order to adapt to the growing number of brands the company operates in multiple segments of the restaurant industry, mainly in Canada. The Canadian operations will now have three distinct COO's; Marie-Line Beauchamp will lead the Casual Dining segment, Marc Benzacar will lead the Fast Casual segment, and Jason Brading will lead the Quick Service segment. The US operations will continue with its current structure, under the leadership of Jeff Smit.
"I am extremely proud of the team MTY has assembled to drive its business further in the future. The new structure will allow an increased focus on operations helping to fuel organic growth of MTY for many years to come, while also enabling us to continue to expand our extensive brand portfolio" said Eric Lefebvre, who will become the Chief Executive Officer on November 2nd, 2018.
"Over the last 39 years, MTY has grown in scale and has earned the respect as the industry's acquirer and franchisor of choice for restaurant systems throughout North America. Over those years, we have assembled a tremendous base of franchise partners who have greatly contributed to our success. As we embark in this new chapter in MTY's history, we intend to further emphasize our focus on "growth from within", through menu engineering, remodeling of restaurants, adaptation to current marketing and customer experience trends and enhanced new store development."
"That is not to say we are abandoning our core strategy of growth from acquisitions; MTY has been and intends to always be the acquirer of choice for founder-led franchise systems, working creatively to fulfill their goals in ways other acquirers might not be able to accommodate. We believe there is great synergy between our acquisition-based model and our "growth from within" objective to drive organic growth, creating two growth vehicles that compound each other."
In addition to the nominations above, MTY also announces that Renée St-Onge will be promoted a the new Chief Financial Officer of the Company on November 2nd, 2018, replacing Eric Lefebvre in that role.
About Marie-Line Beauchamp
Marie-Line was appointed Chief Operating Officer for Imvescor Restaurant Group Inc. on March 1st, 2018. Previous positions with Imvescor include Chief Operating Officer for Mikes and Pizza Delight since July 2017 and Chief Operating Officer for the Mikes since February 15, 2016. Prior to joining the organization, Marie-Line worked as the Executive Director of Leucan. She also held various senior management positions including President of Les Rôtisseries St-Hubert, Vice-President, Corporate Social Responsibility at Sodexo, based in Paris, within the AMECAA division representing 40 countries and Executive Vice-President at Sodexo Canada. She graduated from McGill University in Food Administration and is a graduate of the Institute of Corporate Directors.
About Marc Benzacar
Marc has earned a Biology Degree from Concordia University and a Law degree from Université de Montréal. He held Legal Counsel and executive positions in the Pharmaceutical industry for the first decade of his career before joining MTY in 2007 as Vice President of Legal Affairs and Corporate Development, working primarily on acquisitions and overseeing the company's legal matters. In 2008, Marc was awarded the Senior Vice President position for Sushi Shop, Sushiman and SushiGO, in a role in which he has achieved exceptional results.
About Jason Brading
Jason is a 30-year veteran of the Restaurant and Food Service industry having held various senior executive positions in Canada. Jason joined MTY in 2014 as Brand Vice President for the quick service MR.SUB chain, where he has been instrumental in helping the team achieve outstanding results over the past four years. Jason's mandate with MTY has seen the steady addition of other MTY brands into his trust, most notably the Country Style, Extreme Pita and Timothy's World Coffee concepts. Prior to joining MTY, Jason held various senior positions with Imvescor Restaurant Group and Da Giovanni Restaurant Group.
About Jeff Smit
Jeff has over 35 years of experience in food service management and has been serving as Kahala Brands Chief Operating Officer for almost 10 years. Prior to his current position, Jeff served in leadership roles for the Cold Stone Creamery and Blimpie brands. Before joining the Kahala Brands team, he worked for the TGI Friday's brand for over 18 years in various leadership roles. Jeff's wide-ranging skill set and passion for excellence allows him to provide all Kahala Brands franchisees with the high quality products, training and support they need to build and maintain best in class franchise operations.
About Renée St-Onge
Renée has 15 years experience as a Chartered Professional Accountant and joined MTY in 2012 as Controller. During her 6 years with MTY, the number of franchised locations has more than doubled resulting in major changes to the accounting processes as well as disclosure requirements. Since her start with MTY, she has been instrumental in the successful integration of multiple acquired brands, has implemented several key new systems, including a customized franchisee database and invoicing tool along with a new consolidation system. She has also overhauled the internal control process for the entire company. Prior to MTY, Renee worked for Bell Canada as associate director in corporate finance and Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton as an auditor.
Forward Looking Information
Certain information in this news release constitutes "forward-looking" information that involves known and unknown risks and uncertainties future expectations and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of MTY to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this news release may constitute forward looking statements within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and regulation. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "expect", "believe", "plan" or variations of such words and phrases, or by the use of words or phrases which state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, or might occur or be achieved. These forward-looking statements are not facts or guarantees of future performance, but only reflections of estimates and expectations of MTY's management and involve a number of risks, uncertainties, and assumptions.
The forward-looking information contained in this news release reflects MTY's current expectations and assumptions regarding future events and operating performance and speaks only as of the date of this news release. While these assumptions and expectations are considered reasonable, a number of factors could cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from the expectations and assumptions of MTY, including those discussed in MTY's public filings available at www.sedar.com and in particular in its most recent annual information form under "Risk Factors" and in its management's discussion and analysis for its fiscal year ended November 30, 2017 under "Risk and Uncertainties".
Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Except as required by law, MTY assumes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking information to reflect new events or circumstances.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors of
MTY Food Group Inc.
_____________________________________
Stanley Ma, Chairman of the Board of Directors
SOURCE MTY Food Group Inc.
Eric Lefebvre at 1-514-336-8885 or by email at [email protected], or visit our website: www.mtygroup.com or SEDAR's website at www.sedar.com under the Company's name
Share this article