Chris Cavanaugh to Become Chief Executive Officer of the IMAGINE Group

MINNEAPOLIS, April 6, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The IMAGINE Group ("IMAGINE" or "the Company"), a leading provider of visual communications, today announced that Chris Cavanaugh will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer and join the Company's Board of Directors, effective April 14, 2021. This completes a comprehensive succession plan, led by the Board with the assistance of Craig Reese, current IMAGINE CEO. Mr. Reese will remain an advisor to Mr. Cavanaugh and the Board through the end of the year.

"We are pleased to welcome Chris to IMAGINE," said Rickardo Francis, member of IMAGINE's Board of Directors and Managing Director at Cerberus Capital Management. "His deep expertise in operations, technology solutions, commercialization, and marketing strategies make him an ideal fit as the Company's next leader. We are grateful to Craig for setting the foundation for the Company's transformation and his leadership in navigating the pandemic's unprecedented business environment."

Brady Schuck, Managing Director within Goldman Sachs Private Credit and member of IMAGINE's Board of Directors, added, "We look forward to an exciting next chapter as IMAGINE continues to invest in its business and develop valuable client offerings. Chris is a terrific partner to lead in this phase of growth and innovation."

Craig Reese, current IMAGINE Chief Executive Officer, stated, "When I first joined IMAGINE, my goal was to establish a transformation plan that would set the Company on a positive, long-term trajectory. I'm proud of the accomplishments we've made together towards that goal; the work I came here to do is largely complete. With a new balance sheet, a terrific new equity group, and a highly capable leader in Chris, IMAGINE is ready for the next phase of this transformation."

Chris Cavanaugh, incoming IMAGINE Chief Executive Officer, commented, "IMAGINE's customer relationships and ability to deliver visual communications solutions are unparalleled. I'm grateful for the opportunity to bring IMAGINE's market-leading capabilities and other innovative solutions to meet the evolving needs of customers. I look forward to continuing to meet with the leadership team and employees in the weeks to come as we build out and execute on our plan to accelerate growth, invest in new capabilities, and make an even greater positive impact on our customers. I'm excited to roll up my sleeves with the talented and dedicated IMAGINE team members at my new home base in the Twin Cities and our additional operations in Charlotte, Chicago, and Los Angeles."

Mr. Cavanaugh brings more than 35 years of experience and has focused his career on creating transformation strategies and engaging clients with innovative solutions to solve complex business challenges. He spent more than seven years in executive roles at the Freeman Company, the world's largest event service and logistics company, where he contributed to the total transformation of the business as a part of the company's executive team. Most recently, he served as CEO of NewSkyxr, a business-to-business virtual events platform, and as President of The Collyer Collective, a consulting agency focused on market intelligence and digital transformation. Prior to these roles and his time at the Freeman Company, Mr. Cavanaugh held executive leadership positions as President of Taft and EVP at Jack Morton Worldwide (part of the Interpublic Group of companies), where he worked for 16 years, 10 of which were as Managing Director of their flagship New York Office.

Earlier this year, IMAGINE successfully completed a recapitalization to eliminate more than $450 million in debt and enhanced its capital structure with new investment. IMAGINE is supported by an ownership group led by an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., the Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division, and Arbour Lane Capital Management, LP. The Company is now better positioned to support client growth with one of the strongest financial positions in the industry and is set for long-term success.

About IMAGINE

IMAGINE is an industry-leading national provider of visual print communications and experiential marketing solutions. From concept to consumer, IMAGINE partners with companies to realize a better way via teams of trained experts that listen, understand, and move at the speed of change to deliver beautiful pieces that inspire. IMAGINE offers a seamless end-to-end journey including innovative solutions in concepting, pre-media, direct mail, out-of-home, décor, commercial print, location signage, specialty packaging, and fulfillment, backed by state-of-the-art equipment and processes. The IMAGINE family of companies includes IMAGINE Charlotte, IMAGINE Chicago, IMAGINE Twin Cities and IMAGINE Los Angeles/Midnight Oil Agency. Imagine a better way at www.theimaginegroup.com.

About Cerberus

Founded in 1992, Cerberus is a global leader in alternative investing with over $53 billion in assets across complementary credit, private equity, and real estate strategies. We invest across the capital structure where our integrated investment platforms and proprietary operating capabilities create an edge to improve performance and drive long-term value. Our tenured teams have experience working collaboratively across asset classes, sectors, and geographies to seek strong risk-adjusted returns for our investors. For more information about our people and platforms, visit us at www.cerberus.com.

About the Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division

Goldman Sachs is one of the world's leading investors in alternative investments. With over 30 years of experience, we invest in the full spectrum of alternatives, including private equity, growth equity, private credit, real estate, infrastructure, ESG, and absolute-return strategies. Our clients access these solutions through our direct proprietary strategies, customized strategic partnerships, and open-architecture programs. Our alternative investment teams represent over 1,000 professionals, across 31 offices around the world. We leverage the depth and breadth of global relationships across Goldman Sachs to identify investment opportunities, drawing on our firm-wide capital market insights, industry research, and risk management platforms. We extend these capabilities to the world's leading pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, governments, financial institutions, endowments, foundations, family offices and individuals, for which we invest or advise on over $300 billion of alternative investments.

Founded in 1869, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm. The Merchant Banking area of the Asset Management Division of Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division (MBD) is the primary center for the firm's long-term principal investing activity and. MBD is one of the leading private capital investors in the world with investments across private equity, infrastructure, private debt, growth equity and real estate.

About Arbour Lane

Arbour Lane Capital Management, LP ("Arbour Lane") is a registered investment adviser focused primarily on opportunistic credit and special situations investments. Arbour Lane leverages its team's deep experience in various sectors, built over years at both investment banks and primary investment firms, to source and invest in undervalued credit opportunities and special situations in the middle market.

Media Contact Information

Rachel Chesley
FTI Consulting
[email protected]

SOURCE The IMAGINE Group

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