William M. Pruellage became a member of our board of directors on January 20, 2021. Mr. Pruellage joined Pamplona in 2014 and has served as managing partner since 2018. Prior to Pamplona, Mr. Pruellage was the co-president of Castle Harlan, Inc., where he was employed since 1997. Prior to that, Mr. Pruellage was a mergers and acquisitions banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr. Pruellage holds a Bachelor of Science, summa cum laude, in Finance and International Business from Georgetown University. During his time at Pamplona, Mr. Pruellage served on the board of directors of several companies, including Bakemark, a manufacturer of baking ingredients, Veritext, a court reporting agency, nThrive, a payment solutions provider for the healthcare industry, and Lumos Networks (NASDAQ: LMOS), a broadband internet provider. Prior to Pamplona, Mr. Pruellage served on the board of directors of numerous companies, including Exterran (NYSE: EXTN), an oil and gas company, Ames True Temper, a manufacturer of garden products, GoldStar Foods, a food distributor, Pretium Packaging, a plastics manufacturer, Securus, a prison communications firm, RathGibson, a manufacturer of tubing and pipe, Baker & Taylor, a book distributor, Verdugt Specialty Chemicals, a chemicals company, Anchor Drilling Fluids, a drilling fluids company, and Universal Compression (NYSE: UCO), a provider of natural gas compression equipment and services. We believe Mr. Pruellage is qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors because of his extensive investment management experience and because of his experience serving on the boards of multiple companies.
Andrew D. Singer became a member of Latham Pool Products’ board of directors on December 6, 2018 and a member of our board of directors on December 9, 2020. Mr. Singer is a principal at Pamplona, having joined the firm in 2013. Prior to this role, Mr. Singer worked in the mergers and acquisitions practice at Merrill Lynch with a focus on branded consumer products. During his time at Pamplona, he served on the board of several companies, including iFit (f.k.a. ICON), a leading digital fitness platform, Calyx, a tech-enabled clinical development business, Parexel, a global clinical research organization (“CRO”) and Spreemo, a radiology intelligence platform. Mr. Singer holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business and enterprise management from the Calloway School of Business and Accountancy at Wake Forest University. We believe Mr. Singer is qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors because of his extensive financial services experience and consumer products knowledge.
Christopher P. O’Brien became a member of Latham Pool Products’ board of directors on December 18, 2018 and our board of directors on December 9, 2020. Since 2017, Mr. O’Brien has served as managing partner of Wynnchurch, a private equity firm. Since his hiring at Wynnchurch in 2000 as an associate, he was promoted to vice president, managing director, partner and then managing partner over the course of his 20 year tenure with the organization. Mr. O’Brien holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Notre Dame and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. During his time at Wynnchurch, he served on the board of directors of several companies, including SafeWorks, a manufacturing company, Webex, a developer of web conferencing and videoconferencing applications, NSC Minerals, a provider of bulk and retail rock salt and ice melter, US Pipe, a manufacturing company, Humanetics, a technology organization, US Manufacturing, a manufacturing company, Premier Forge, a manufacturing company, PW Forging Group, a manufacturing company, Boss Engineered Air Systems, a manufacturing company, MPL, a manufacturing company, Pro-Fab, a manufacturer and distributor of modular homes, Wolverine Advanced Materials, a manufacturing company, Eastern Metal Supply (EMS), a distributor of aluminum extrusions and related products, Critical Process Systems Group (CPS), a provider of process solutions for highly demanding industries and applications, Midland Industries, a manufacturing and distributing company, Infra Pipe Solutions, a manufacturing company, and Rosboro, a manufacturing company. We believe Mr. O’Brien is qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors because of his extensive investment management experience and because of his experience serving on the boards of multiple companies.
Controlled Company
Our common stock is listed on NASDAQ. As the Pamplona Fund and the Wynnchurch Funds continue to control more than 50% of our combined voting power upon the completion of this offering, we will continue to be considered a “controlled company” for the purposes of that exchange’s rules and corporate governance standards. As a “controlled company,” we are permitted to, and we intend to continue to, elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including (1) those that would otherwise require our board of directors to have a majority of independent directors, (2) those that would require that we establish a compensation committee composed entirely of independent directors and with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities and (3) those that would require we have a nominating and corporate governance committee comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities, or otherwise ensure that the nominees for directors are determined or recommended to our board of directors by the independent members of our board of directors. Accordingly, you will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of these corporate governance requirements. In the event that we cease to be a “controlled company” and our shares of common stock continue to be listed on NASDAQ, we will be required to comply with these provisions within the applicable transition periods.