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By Calvin Biesecker
Shareholders of United Industrial Corp. [UIC] yesterday elected two new members to their six-member Board of Directors, a new management foundation for what the company's relatively new president and CEO believes is a "new start" for the business.
Just weeks after taking down the "For Sale" sign on its business, UIC is looking for ways to grow the company and reward shareholders, Fred Strader, president and CEO of UIC, told Defense Daily on Tuesday during the Association of the U.S. Army's annual convention in Washington, D.C. Strader, named as the company's chief on Aug. 1, previously ran UIC's $229 million defense business, AAI Corp., which happens to be the primary focus going forward.
The company's new board members include Paul X. Kelley, a former Marine Corps Commandant and partner with the private equity firm J.F. Lehman & Co., and Thomas Corcoran, president and CEO of Gemini Air Cargo and a member of L-3 Communication's [LLL] Board. The two succeed Harold Gelb, the company's former chairman, and Paul Hoeper.
Two years ago UIC, a $269 million multi-industry company with stakes in the defense, energy and at the time transportation overhaul markets, put itself on the market as the primary way to maximize shareholder value. But sale efforts went slowly and dissident shareholders upset at that lack of progress captured their second board seat at last fall's annual shareholder's meeting, with a goal to speed the sale process.
Shortly after, though, UIC's attractiveness to buyers took a huge hit when it and thousands of other company's facing asbestos- related litigation unexpectedly were deluged with thousands of additional lawsuits after the State of Mississippi said it would change its laws, making it more difficult for potential claimants to enter suits. Once it became clear that it would soon be tougher to enter a lawsuit through a venue in Mississippi, claimants rushed in, ballooning UIC's case numbers from under 1,000 to 13,000 by the end of 2002...