CALGARY, ALBERTA - Oct. 14, 2014 /CNW/ - Newalta Corporation ("Newalta") (TSX:NAL) announced today that the Board of Directors has appointed John Barkhouse as President and Chief Executive Officer and to the Board of Directors, to succeed Al Cadotte, current President and Chief Executive Officer, effective November 10, 2014. Mr. Cadotte will remain on Newalta's Board until the Annual General Meeting in 2015. In addition, Mr. Cadotte will work with Mr. Barkhouse to ensure a seamless leadership transition.
"Al has shown exceptional vision and leadership throughout his 21-year tenure, and transformed the company from a small oil and gas services company to one of the largest environmental services companies in North America," said Barry Stewart, Chairman of Newalta's Board of Directors. "On behalf of the Board of Directors, management and Newalta employees, I want to thank Al and recognize him for establishing the Newalta we know today. Al brought the discipline, focus on safety, innovative mindset and core values around which the company is built. During his tenure, Newalta has delivered total shareholder return of over 2500 percent including total dividends paid to shareholders of $448 million.
"Today's announcement is the result of a thorough succession planning process that has been in progress over the past year. We are pleased to welcome John and we look forward to having him lead the company into the future," said Mr. Stewart.
"I am very proud of Newalta's accomplishments and excited about what lies ahead for the company," said Al Cadotte. "With a strong organization, excellent assets, talented management team and outstanding growth opportunities, Newalta is well positioned for success and now is the right time for this transition. John has the necessary expertise, vision and entrepreneurial focus to take our company forward."
John Barkhouse is a seasoned executive with extensive experience building and growing companies in North America and internationally. He brings deep engineering, planning and operational expertise to the role at Newalta. Most recently, he held the position of President of Bredero Shaw, A ShawCor Company, based in Houston, Texas. Bredero Shaw is the world's leading producer of pipeline coating solutions for the oil, gas and water industries. Prior to that he was the Senior Vice President, Americas & Global Operations of Bredero Shaw. Before joining ShawCor, he was Vice President, Operations for Irving Shipbuilding and held progressively senior roles with Caterpillar, and was most recently Managing Director for Caterpillar India Private Ltd. Mr. Barkhouse holds a Masters of Business Administration degree from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, and a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
"I'm looking forward to taking the helm at such an exciting stage in Newalta's growth," commented Mr. Barkhouse. "Newalta has a reputation for innovation and operational excellence. I look forward to working with the entire organization to move forward on a number of strategic initiatives currently underway as we also shape the strategy to grow the company in the years ahead."
Mr. Cadotte added, "Newalta continues to execute on our business plan and make progress exploring strategic alternatives for the Industrial Division. At the same time, we are evaluating our organization capacity and investment opportunities to accelerate organic growth plans in the New Markets and Oilfield divisions where we have seen excellent returns. We are also continuing to evaluate acquisitions to further accelerate growth in the U.S."
Newalta is North America's leading provider of innovative, engineered environmental solutions that enable customers to reduce disposal, enhance recycling and recover valuable resources from industrial residues. We serve customers onsite directly at their operations and through a network of 85 locations in Canada and the U.S. Our proven processes, portfolio of more than 250 operating permits and excellent record of safety make us the first choice provider of sustainability enhancing services to oil, natural gas, petrochemical, refining, lead, manufacturing and mining markets. With a skilled team of more than 2,100 people, two decade track record of profitable expansion and commitment to commercializing new solutions, Newalta is positioned for sustained future growth and improvement. Newalta trades on the TSX as NAL. For more information, visit www.newalta.com.
This press release contains forward-looking information. More particularly, this press release contains forward-looking information relating to Newalta's business prospects and strategy including related capital expenditure programs and timelines; and the realization of anticipated benefits of growth capital investments, potential divestitures and acquisitions. Although Newalta believes that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on it because Newalta can give no assurance that it will prove to be correct. Forward-looking information is based on current expectations, estimates and assumptions that involve a number of risks, which could cause actual results to vary and in some instances to differ materially from those anticipated by Newalta and described in the forward-looking information contained in this press release. Among the various factors that could cause results to vary materially from those indicated in the forward-looking information include: general market conditions of the industries we service; strength of the oil and gas industry, including drilling activity; and the success of our growth, divestiture and acquisition strategies including integration of businesses and processes into our operations and potential liabilities from acquisitions. Readers should also be aware that the forward-looking information is affected by the risk factors described in Newalta's annual information form and those set forth from time to time in Newalta's other continuous disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities, which are available under Newalta's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.
The forward-looking information contained in this press release is made as of the date hereof and Newalta undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.