New York, N.Y., USA - Forward Industries and LaGrange Capital Partners announced that Frank LaGrange Johnson will assume the role of chairman of the board of Forward Industries.
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Mr. Johnson has served as a Director of 1-800 CONTACTS since October 2006.
Mr. Johnson founded LaGrange Capital Partners, an asset management firm specializing in event driven investing with over $300 million in assets under management, in May 2000.
Mr. Johnson received the 2003 GAIM award for the best event driven fund with a three to four year track record.
Prior to forming LaGrange, Mr. Johnson spent four years with CoMac Partners, a distressed securities fund.
Prior to CoMac, Mr. Johnson was an analyst focused on risk arbitrage and other event driven strategies at Chesapeake Partners.
Prior to Chesapeake, Mr. Johnson was a management consultant for McKinsey & Company, where he advised banks, telecommunications, and energy firms.
Mr. Johnson has also held positions in Merrill Lynch’s Investment Banking division and with Perry Partners.
He holds a BA from Brown University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
The company has also announced that Brett M. Johnson will take over as chief executive officer.
Mr. Johnson is the founder of Benevolent Capital Partners, a diversified investment company whose investments include Yak Pak and Terracycle.
Prior to founding BCP, Mr. Johnson was the President of Targus Group International, a global supplier of notebook carrying cases and accessories, from 2001 to 2004.
Prior to that he was managing director of Targus, EMEA and APAC regions where opened 18 international offices.
Under Mr. Johnson’s leadership, Targus was a two-time winner of the Queen's Award for Enterprise and a six-time winner of Gartner Group's Best Vendor Award at RetailVision and VarVision.
The company has also announced that Owen King and Stephen Key are joining the board of directors.
Mr. Key heads up Key Consulting, a financial consulting firm, and serves on the board of directors for a number of companies and organizations.
Mr. Key was previously Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Textron and ConAgra, Inc.
He also worked for Ernst and Young for 24 years and was managing partner of their New York office.
Mr. King is the founder and CEO of Stonehurst Management, an SEC-registered investment adviser founded in 2002.
Prior to Stonehurst, Mr. King managed the global asset allocation program and served on the investment committee of one of the largest independent RIAs in the U.S.
Previously, Mr. King was Senior Vice President of P.G. Corbin & Company where he advised many of the largest municipalities in the U.S. on their financing programs. ■