Rent-A-Center to Explore Strategic and Financial Alternatives to Maximize Stockholder Value
Steven L. Pepper Resigns from Board as Chairman
The Company issued the following statement:
“Rent-A-Center remains committed to taking actions that are in the best
interests of the Company and all of its stockholders, as demonstrated by
the commencement of what will be an extensive review of both strategic
and financial alternatives. Throughout the review process, which will be
overseen by the Company’s directors, the
There can be no assurance that the Board's exploration of strategic and financial alternatives will result in any particular action or any transaction being pursued, entered into or consummated, or the timing of any action or transaction. The Company does not intend to discuss or disclose developments with respect to this process unless and until the Board has approved a definitive course of action or the process is otherwise concluded. In addition, the Rent-A-Center Board has determined to suspend the Company’s quarterly dividend until the process has concluded.
Steven L. Pepper Resigns from Board as Chairman
The Company also announced today that
Advisors
J.P. Morgan is serving as financial advisor and
About
A rent-to-own industry leader,
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release and the guidance above contain forward-looking
statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking
statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking
terminology such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “could,”
“estimate,” “should,” “anticipate,” “believe,” or “confident,” or the
negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology. The
Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking
statements are accurate. However, there can be no assurance that such
expectations will occur. The Company's actual future performance could
differ materially from such statements. Factors that could cause or
contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: the
general strength of the economy and other economic conditions affecting
consumer preferences and spending; factors affecting the disposable
income available to the Company’s current and potential customers;
changes in the unemployment rate; uncertainties concerning the outcome,
impact, effects and results of the Company’s exploration of its
strategic and financial alternatives; difficulties encountered in
improving the financial and operational performance of the Company’s
business segments; the Company’s chief executive officer and chief
financial officer transitions, including the Company’s ability to
effectively operate and execute its strategies during the interim period
and difficulties or delays in identifying and/or attracting a permanent
chief financial officer with the required level of experience and
expertise; failure to manage the Company’s store labor and other store
expenses; the Company’s ability to develop and successfully execute
strategic initiatives; disruptions, including capacity-related outages,
caused by the operation of the Company’s new store information
management system, and its transition to more-readily scalable,
“cloud-based” solutions; the Company’s ability to develop and
successfully implement digital or E-commerce capabilities, including
mobile applications; disruptions in the Company’s supply chain;
limitations of, or disruptions in, the Company’s distribution network;
rapid inflation or deflation in the prices of the Company’s products;
the Company’s ability to execute and the effectiveness of a store
consolidation, including the Company’s ability to retain the revenue
from customer accounts merged into another store location as a result of
a store consolidation; the Company’s available cash flow; the Company’s
ability to identify and successfully market products and services that
appeal to its customer demographic; consumer preferences and perceptions
of the Company’s brand; uncertainties regarding the ability to open new
locations; the Company’s ability to acquire additional stores or
customer accounts on favorable terms; the Company’s ability to control
costs and increase profitability; the Company’s ability to retain the
revenue associated with acquired customer accounts and enhance the
performance of acquired stores; the Company’s ability to enter into new
and collect on its rental or lease purchase agreements; the passage of
legislation adversely affecting the Rent-to-Own industry; the Company’s
compliance with applicable statutes or regulations governing its
transactions; changes in interest rates; adverse changes in the economic
conditions of the industries, countries or markets that the Company
serves; information technology and data security costs; the impact of
any breaches in data security or other disturbances to the Company's
information technology and other networks and the Company’s ability to
protect the integrity and security of individually identifiable data of
its customers and employees; changes in the Company’s stock price, the
number of shares of common stock that it may or may not repurchase, and
the Company’s dividend policy and any changes thereto; changes in
estimates relating to self-insurance liabilities and income tax and
litigation reserves; changes in the Company’s effective tax rate;
fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the Company’s ability
to maintain an effective system of internal controls; the resolution of
the Company’s litigation; and the other risks detailed from time to time
in the Company’s
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171030006328/en/
Source:
Investors:
Rent-A-Center, Inc.
Maureen Short,
972-801-1899
Interim Chief Financial Officer
maureen.short@rentacenter.com
or
Media:
Joele
Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
James Golden / Matthew Gross /
Aura Reinhard
212-355-4449