Supervalu beefs up board following Q4 results
MINNEAPOLIS — Supervalu has elected Rite Aid chairman, president and CEO John Standley and Cerberus COO and general counsel Mark A. Neporent to its board of directors.
“I am very pleased that John and Mark have accepted positions on our board,” said Bob Miller, Supervalu’s nonexecutive chairman. “It is important that we have a strong board of directors with a mix of industry, financial and professional experience to draw upon. John and Mark provide tremendous knowledge and a strong understanding of the guidance and direction this board should offer Supervalu during its rebuilding process.”
Standley has spent the past 20 years in executive leadership roles in the grocery and pharmacy retail business. He became Rite Aid Corporation’s president and COO in September 2008, was appointed to the Rite Aid board of directors in 2009 and was named CEO in June 2010. He was elected chairman of Rite Aid’s board of directors in June 2012. Standley had previously served as Rite Aid’s CFO, CAO and senior EVP from 1999 to 2005. Rite Aid Corporation is one of the nation’s leading drugstore chains with more than 4,600 stores in 31 states and the District of Columbia and fiscal 2013 annual revenues of $25 billion. In addition to his tenure at Rite Aid, Standley served as CEO and a member of the board of directors of Pathmark Stores, a northeast regional supermarket chain from 2005-2007. He also worked with the Yucaipa Companies from 1994 to 1999 in a variety of senior leadership positions at several grocery companies that were consolidated into Fred Meyer Inc. Standley is currently vice chairman of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and is a graduate of Pepperdine University.
Neporent is a designee of Symphony Investors, a Cerberus affiliate. He has served as COO and general counsel of Cerberus since 1998. Cerberus, one of the world's leading private investment firms, has more than $20 billion under management invested in four primary strategies: distressed securities and assets; control and non-control private equity; commercial mid-market lending and real estate-related investments. Neporent is responsible for the day-to-day management of Cerberus and serves on many of the firm’s committees, including the investment committee, valuation committee and risk/compliance committee, among others. Prior to joining Cerberus, Neporent was a partner in the Business Reorganization and Finance Group at Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP, where he practiced from 1986 until he joined Cerberus. He also practiced from 1982 to 1986 at the firm of Otterbourg Steindler Houston & Rosen, P.C. Neporent is a graduate of Lehigh University and Syracuse University College of Law, where he was the lead articles editor for the Syracuse Law Review.
Supervalu’s board now has nine members, five of whom are independent directors under the New York Stock Exchange listing standards. The board will continue to search for one additional independent director. Upon the selection and appointment of this director, Sam Duncan, Supervalu’s president and CEO will be added, increasing the board’s membership to a total of 11 directors.
The additions to Supervalu’s board follow the company’s fourth quarter 2012 results, which saw a dip in sales amid its transition process. "This past quarter was largely about transitioning the company for the future, and I am proud of the many things we accomplished in my first 60 days," Duncan said. "I brought in Ritchie Casteel as Save-A-Lot's new president and CEO, and he has already right-sized that organization's overhead and, along with me, met with a number of licensees to understand what we can do to help drive sales and improve the overall operating model."