Premier Exhibitions CEO canned
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Sellers Capital LLC has ousted the CEO of Premier Exhibitions Inc., producer of Bodies: The Exhibition and Titanic Aquatic, and has placed four of its people on the company’s board of directors.
William M. Adams, Christopher J. Davino, Jack Jacobs and Bruce Steinberg, in connection with Sellers Capital’s consent solicitation, joined Premier's board.
CEO Arnie Geller was terminated and Davino was tapped as Premier's Interim CEO and will serve for at least four months. Davino has turnaround experience and is currently a principal and head of the corporate rescue group of XRoads Solutions Group LLC, a corporate restructuring management consulting company.
Geller will continue to serve on the board but will no longer serve as chairman.
Mark A. Sellers was named non-executive chairman of the board.
Chicago-based Sellers Capital is Premier Exhibitions’ biggest shareholder with 16 percent of company shares. The equity firm waged a shareholder mutiny to remove Geller , claiming he has mismanaged Premier causing a precipitous drop in revenues and stock price, all while taking an exorbitant salary for himself.
Atlanta-based Premier Exhibitions (NASDAQ: PRXI) has been battered by recent legal and financial turmoil. It has been locked in long-term litigation over the artifacts in the Titanic exhibition, some of which are currently on display at the Georgia Aquarium. And its Bodies exhibit has been dogged by allegations the cadavers used in the exhibit are those of executed and tortured Chinese prisoners. The company settled a lawsuit with the state of New York over the matter last May.
“Sellers Capital and its nominees to Premier's Board are pleased to have the consent solicitation behind us and are eager to begin the work of turning Premier around and delivering value to its shareholders,” Sellers said.
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