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Arotech Announces Management
Changes
– Steven Esses Named President
and
Thomas J. Paup Named Chief Financial Officer –
January
5, 2006 - Arotech Corporation (NasdaqNM: ARTX) announced today
that Steven Esses will take over the position of President of Arotech,
replacing Robert S. Ehrlich, effective immediately. In his new capacity,
Mr. Esses will continue to serve as the Company’s Chief Operating
Officer. Mr. Ehrlich will remain Arotech’s Chairman of the
Board and CEO.
For the past three years, Mr.
Esses has played a key role in Arotech’s transformation into
a leading provider of defense and security products, both as a director
and as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the
Company. Prior to joining Arotech, Mr. Esses was a principal with
Stillwater Capital Partners, Inc., a New-York based investment research
and advisory company specializing in alternative investment strategies.
He also acted as an independent consultant to new and existing businesses
in the areas of finance and business development. Mr. Esses also
has extensive operational experience stemming from the retail industry.
Arotech also announced today the
appointment of Thomas J. Paup to the position of Vice President
– Finance and Chief Financial Officer of the Company, replacing
Avihai Shen, effective on or before March 31, 2006. Mr. Paup joins
Arotech with a rich history in the field of finance and is currently
a Finance Lecturer at Eastern Michigan University. Mr. Paup was
an Affiliated Partner with McMillan|Doolittle LLP from March 2002
until accepting this position with the Company, and prior thereto,
he was an Executive in Residence and Finance Instructor at DePaul
University’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. Prior
to his teaching experience, Mr. Paup spent over 25 years in the
retail industry. Most recently, between 1997 and 2000, Mr. Paup
was the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and
member of the Board of Directors of Montgomery Ward and Company.
Mr. Paup brings a broad background of strategic and operational
management experiences from the department store industry, where
he served as CFO of Lord & Taylor and Kaufmann’s and Controller
of Bloomingdale’s and Robinson-May. Noted in the industry
as a turnaround specialist, Mr. Paup assisted Montgomery Ward in
its emergence from bankruptcy and Lord & Taylor in its restructuring
into a national department store chain. Mr. Paup holds an MBA in
Finance and a BBS from Eastern Michigan University.
“I am delighted to announce
these new appointments, and wish Steven and Tom much success in
their new positions,” said Robert S. Ehrlich, Chairman and
CEO of Arotech. “We have already made substantial progress
in implementing our restructuring program as we remain focused on
our goals to achieve profitable growth through existing operations.
We look forward to benefiting from the extensive experience and
expertise of our newly enriched management team to achieve these
goals.
“I also would like to take
this opportunity to thank our present Vice President – Finance
and CFO, Avihai Shen, for his dedicated effort and contribution
to the Company. Avihai has agreed to stay with us through March
31, 2006 in order to assist with a smooth transition and to help
in the process of our annual audit and preparation of our annual
report to the SEC. We appreciate Avihai’s agreeing to remain
with us during this time.”
About Arotech Corporation
Arotech Corporation is a leading
provider of quality defense and security products for the military,
law enforcement and homeland security markets, including multimedia
interactive simulators/trainers, lightweight armoring and advanced
zinc-air and lithium batteries and chargers. Arotech operates through
three major business divisions: Armor, Simulation and Security and
Battery and Power Systems.
Arotech is incorporated in Delaware,
with corporate offices in Auburn, Alabama, and research, development
and production subsidiaries in Alabama, Colorado, Michigan, California
and Israel.
Except for the historical information
herein, the matters discussed in this news release include forward-looking
statements, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995, including the results of our restructuring program.
Forward-looking statements reflect management’s current knowledge,
assumptions, judgment and expectations regarding future performance
or events. Although management believes that the expectations reflected
in such statements are reasonable, readers are cautioned not to
place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, as they
are subject to various risks and uncertainties that may cause actual
results to vary materially. These risks and uncertainties include,
but are not limited to, risks relating to: product and technology
development; the uncertainty of the market for Arotech’s products;
changing economic conditions; delay, cancellation or non-renewal,
in whole or in part, of contracts or of purchase orders; Arotech’s
ability to remain listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market in accordance
with the Nasdaq’s $1.00 minimum bid price and other continued
listing standards; dilution resulting from issuances of Arotech’s
common stock upon conversion or payment of its outstanding convertible
debt, which would be increasingly dilutive if and to the extent
that the market price of Arotech’s stock decreases; and other
risk factors detailed in Arotech’s most recent Annual Report
on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004, as amended,
and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Arotech
assumes no obligation to update the information in this release.
Reference to the Company’s website above does not constitute
incorporation of any of the information thereon into this press
release.
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