Cutter & Buck announced details of the previously announced transition of its Chairman and CEO, Fran Conley. Under a Transition Agreement between her and the Company, Ms. Conley will remain the Company's Chairman and CEO, and a member of the Company's Board, through September 15, 2004. She will then transition to an employee through March 15, 2005. The Transition Agreement will provide for her to work with the Board on the transition to a new CEO. The company has already begun the process of searching for an apparel industry veteran to become the next CEO and hopes to have the search narrowed or the process completed by the September date.
“In the continuing discussions between Fran and the Board, we all agreed that a specific timetable for Fran's transition would be best,” said Larry Mounger, former CEO of Pacific Trail and a founding board member. “We accelerated the timeline somewhat from that previously disclosed because the Board felt that differences had arisen regarding product management. Working together with Fran, we all felt it would be appropriate to have her transition from Chairman and from the Board to make sure the new CEO will feel unfettered in leading the Company and helping the Board to chart the Company's strategic direction. And at the same time we continue to get the benefit of Fran's considerable knowledge and talent well into this fiscal year while we work toward a smooth transition to a new CEO.”
Ms. Conley retains her current salary throughout the transition period and will be entitled to an additional preset payment at the end of the transition period. “Few companies and few CEOs will ever go through the kind of turmoil that we went through over the last two years and come out as well as we did,” added Mr. Mounger. The Transition Agreement will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission shortly. The Company also plans to file its Form 10-K for the year ended April 30, 2004 in a timely manner on July 14, 2004.
