Al Kabus named Chief Executive Officer of Panolam Industries International

SHELTON, Conn., Nov. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Panolam Industries International ("Panolam" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of engineered and decorative surfaces including the Panolam, Nevamar, and Pionite brand names, today announced the appointment of Al Kabus to the position of Chief Executive Officer.  Mr. Kabus will join the Company immediately as President and will transition to CEO on January 1, 2013.  Mr. Kabus will also join the Board of Directors.  Following the January transition, Current CEO and President Robert J. Muller, Jr., will remain with the Company indefinitely as Chairman Emeritus.

Mr. Kabus joins Panolam after a long and distinguished career in the decorative interiors and building products industries.  Al has extensive experience in numerous industries, including commercial and residential interiors, and is well known in the design community that Panolam serves.  He formerly served as President of The Mohawk Group, the commercial carpet division of Mohawk Industries, a large publicly-traded flooring manufacturer.  Prior to that, Mr. Kabus held CEO positions at Interface Workplace Solutions Group, a former division of Interface, Inc., and Bentley Mills, which was sold to Interface in 1993.  Al has founded and sold two software companies and served as an advisor and consultant to several companies including Shaw Industries, Kimball Office Furniture, and USG.  Most recently, he had joined the boutique consulting firm Eitel & Armstrong as a Partner.

"Panolam has a fantastic brand presence in both the decorative and engineered surfaces spaces, and has consistently been an innovator and leader in developing high-design options and new solutions for its customers.  I am excited to join Panolam's superlative team of employees as we take the Company into new and diverse end markets, while continuing to deliver the creativity, quality and service that all of our existing customers have long enjoyed."

In addition to continuing to grow the Company's core commercial construction, remodeling and repair business lines, Mr. Kabus will oversee further penetration into residential and multi-family interiors and applications to take advantage of significant strength in homebuilding and residential construction nationwide.  Under his leadership, Panolam will also invest in further growing its existing highly-engineered surfaces businesses in industries such as transportation, aerospace and consumer products.  Mr. Kabus continued, "Companies are increasingly spending capital to upgrade and remodel their facilities and equipment, and homebuilder sentiment is at multi-year highs.  We intend to take full advantage of these tailwinds as we grow Panolam's product offering and value proposition to meet our customers' needs, now and in the future."

Jason Perri, Board Member and representative of funds managed by Apollo Global Management, LLC, the Company's controlling shareholder, said, "We are thrilled to have Al Kabus join the Company to lead it into its next stage of growth and success.  His impressive background in the design and building materials space will serve him well in his new role, and we look forward to inflective growth under his leadership."

He further noted, "Bob Muller has done a wonderful job as CEO of the Company for the last 15 years and we deeply appreciate his service.  Bob has graciously offered to serve the Company as Chairman Emeritus and to support Al up to and beyond the transition.  He is a great asset to the business, and we look forward to his continued involvement."

Mr. Muller commented, "As I move on, I am proud to leave Panolam on excellent financial footing and with an exciting growth trajectory.  I look forward to working with Al Kabus through December to make a smooth transition to his new role as CEO, and to helping the Company achieve its future objectives in any way I can as Chairman Emeritus."

About Panolam Industries International

For more than sixty years, Panolam Industries has engineered and manufactured high-quality, innovative surfacing solutions for virtually any environment. With an extensive line of High Pressure Laminates, Thermofused Laminates, Fiberglass Reinforced Laminates and other specialty products available in hundreds of colors and styles under the well-known Panolam, Nevamar, Pionite, Pluswood, Conolite and other brand names.  Panolam Industries provides the vision, value and versatility designers, architects, manufacturers and contractors are looking for today.  For more information, call 203-925-1556; or visit http://www.panolam.com.

SOURCE Panolam Industries