CHICAGO, Jan. 19, 2012 – SymphonyIRI Group, a global leader in innovative solutions and services for consumer, retail and healthcare companies, announced today its new board of directors.
“This new board brings unparalleled experience and expertise in the consumer packaged goods, retail and technology industries,” said John G. Freeland, president and chief executive officer, SymphonyIRI. “They offer a depth of understanding and rich knowledge about our industry, our clients and our technology that will significantly accelerate our innovation and growth initiatives.”
Lawrence Benjamin has been named chairman of the board of directors. Benjamin has more than 25 years of experience leading food companies in the retail, consumer packaged goods and foodservice industries. Most recently, he held several executive positions at Royal Ahold, including chief executive officer of U.S. Foodservice, chief operating officer of Ahold's U.S. retail businesses, executive vice president of Royal Ahold and member of the company's global board. Previously, he was the chief executive officer of The NutraSweet Company, Specialty Foods, and Stella Foods and president of the frozen meals division of Kraft. Benjamin is currently a senior advisor at New Mountain Capital.
Joining Benjamin and Freeland on the board of directors are:
- Jeffrey P. Ansell, president and chief executive officer of Sun Products Corp. Previously, Ansell was chief executive officer of Pinnacle Foods and spent 25 years with Procter & Gamble, most recently as president of the Iams Pet Care subsidiary.
- Raj Gupta, senior advisor, New Mountain Capital. Prior to New Mountain Capital, Gupta was chairman and chief executive officer of Rohm and Haas.
- Lawrence Jackson, senior advisor, New Mountain Capital. Jackson has more than 30 years of experience with several leading consumer products and retail companies, including president and chief executive officer of Global Procurement at Walmart, president and chief operating officer of Dollar General and executive positions at Safeway and PepsiCo.
- Don W. McGeorge, retired president and chief operating officer, Kroger Co. McGeorge was responsible for Kroger’s supermarket divisions, including advertising, manufacturing, merchandising, procurement, pharmacy and retail operations.
- Dr. Romesh Wadhwani, founder, chairman and chief executive officer, Symphony Technology Group. The previous chairman of SymphonyIRI, Dr. Wadhwani leads a strategic private equity firm that helps to build great companies in the software and services sector by creating value through growth-oriented transformation.
- Steven Klinsky, managing director, founder, and chief executive officer, New Mountain Capital. Prior to founding New Mountain Capital, Klinsky was a co-founder of Goldman Sachs’s Leverage Buyout Group and a partner at Forstmann Little.
- Mathew J. Lori, managing director, New Mountain Capital. Prior to joining New Mountain, Lori was a managing director of CCMP Capital Advisors and its predecessor firm, J.P. Morgan Partners.
- Matt Ebbel, director, New Mountain Capital. Before his current position, Ebbel worked in the corporate finance and strategy group at McKinsey & Co.
New Mountain Capital LLC, a New York-based private equity firm that currently manages private and public equity investments totaling approximately $9 billion, became the majority shareholder of SymphonyIRI Group, Inc. on June 1, 2011. The firm seeks out what it believes to be the highest-quality “defensive growth” leaders in carefully selected industry sectors and then works intensively with management to build the value of these companies.
About SymphonyIRI Group, Inc.
SymphonyIRI Group, formerly named Information Resources, Inc. (“IRI”), is the global leader in innovative solutions and services for driving revenue and profit growth in CPG, retail and healthcare companies. SymphonyIRI offers two families of solutions: Core IRI solutions for market measurement and Symphony Advantage solutions for enabling new growth opportunities in marketing, sales, shopper marketing and category management. SymphonyIRI solutions uniquely combine content, analytics and technology to deliver maximum impact. SymphonyIRI helps companies create, plan and execute forward-looking, shopper-centric strategies across every level of the organization. For more information, visit: http://www.SymphonyIRI.com.
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