EarthLink Announces Management Changes to Accelerate Strategic Transformation

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Apr 02, 2015, 08:00 ET

ATLANTA, April 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- EarthLink Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: ELNK) today announced that it has appointed Gerard Brossard to the position of Executive Vice President and Managing Director, Managed Services and Information Technology. Prior to joining EarthLink, Mr. Brossard served as Senior Vice President, Global Head of Business Planning and Operations at Visa Inc. since 2014. From 2013 to 2014, he served in a variety of advisory and consultative roles at several technology companies, including EarthLink. From 2000 to 2012, Mr. Brossard served in various executive positions with Hewlett-Packard Company, most recently as General Manager of its Rich Media Management Solutions division. EarthLink's Executive Vice President, Managed Services, Michael D. Toplisek, will leave the company following a transition period.

EarthLink also announced that Bradley A. Ferguson, EarthLink's previous Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, will now assume an operating role and serve as its Executive Vice President and Managing Director, Small Business and Consumer. He will also lead the company's corporate development function.

The company also announced that Louis M. Alterman will succeed Mr. Ferguson in the position of Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer of EarthLink. Mr. Alterman has served the company in a variety of financial roles since 2003. Most recently he has served as Executive Vice President, Strategy, Operations and Transformation and from August 2012 to September 2014, he served as Senior Vice President, Finance and Treasurer.

Joseph F. Eazor, Chief Executive Officer and President commented, "Mike Toplisek has been a great asset to EarthLink. We are very grateful to him for his dedicated service to EarthLink and we will miss his talent and enthusiasm." Mr. Eazor added, "Gerard Brossard is a fantastic addition to our management team and Louis and Brad are ideally experienced for their new positions. I look forward to working with them in their new roles as we continue with our strategy to be a leading managed network, security, and cloud service provider. And while I will have much more information to share on our earnings call in early May, I am pleased with how our first quarter results are demonstrating our continuing progress in executing this strategy."

About EarthLink
EarthLink (EarthLink Holdings Corp., NASDAQ: ELNK) provides managed network, security and cloud solutions for multi-location businesses. We help thousands of specialty retailers, restaurants, financial institutions, healthcare providers, professional service firms and local governments deliver a reliable and engaging customer experience in their stores and branch offices. We do so by building and managing MPLS WAN networks, by providing virtualized infrastructure, security, hosted voice, secure WiFi and compliance solutions, and by offering exceptional customer care. We operate a nationwide network spanning more than 28,000 fiber route miles, with 90 metro fiber rings and secure data centers that provide ubiquitous data and voice IP service coverage. Our EarthLink Carrier™ division sells facilities-based wholesale telecommunications to other providers and our award-winning Internet services connect hundreds of thousands of residential customers across the U.S. For more, visit www.earthlink.com and follow @earthlink, LinkedIn and Google+.

Cautionary Information Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes "forward-looking" statements (rather than historical facts) that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described. Although we believe that the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot promise that our expectations will turn out to be correct. Our actual results could be materially different from and worse than our expectations. With respect to such forward-looking statements, we seek the protections afforded by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These risks include, without limitation, that: (1) we may not be able to execute our strategy to successfully transition to a leading managed network, security and cloud services provider, which could adversely affect our results of operations and cash flows; (2) we may not be able to grow revenues from our growth products and services to offset declining revenues from our traditional products and services, which could adversely affect our results of operations and cash flows; (3) failure to achieve operating efficiencies would adversely affect our results of operations and cash flows; (4) we may have to undertake further restructuring plans that would require additional charges; (5) if we are unable to adapt to changes in technology and customer demands, we may not remain competitive, and our revenues and operating results could suffer; (6) we may be unable to successfully divest non-strategic products, which could adversely affect our results of operations; (7) that we may be unable to successfully make or integrate acquisitions, which could adversely affect our results of operations; (8) we face significant competition in the communications and managed services industry that could reduce our profitability; (9) failure to retain existing customers could adversely affect our results of operations and cash flows; (10) decisions by legislative or regulatory authorities, including the Federal Communications Commission relieving incumbent carriers of certain regulatory requirements, and possible further deregulation in the future, may restrict our ability to provide services and may increase the costs we incur to provide these services; (11) if we are unable to interconnect with AT&T, Verizon and other incumbent carriers on acceptable terms, our ability to offer competitively priced local telephone services will be adversely affected; (12) our operating performance will suffer if we are not offered competitive rates for the access services we need to provide our long distance services; (13) we may experience reductions in switched access and reciprocal compensation revenue; (14) failure to obtain and maintain necessary permits and rights-of-way could interfere with our network infrastructure and operations; (15) we have substantial business relationships with several large telecommunications carriers, and some of our customer agreements may not continue due to financial difficulty, acquisitions, non-renewal or other factors, which could adversely affect our wholesale revenue and results of operations; (16) we obtain a majority of our network equipment and software from a limited number of third-party suppliers; (17) our commercial and alliance arrangements may not be renewed or may not generate expected benefits, which could adversely affect our results of operations; (18) our consumer business is dependent on the availability of third-party network service providers; (19) we face significant competition in the Internet access industry that could reduce our profitability; (20) the continued decline of our consumer access subscribers will adversely affect our results of operations; (21) potential regulation of Internet service providers could adversely affect our operations; (22) cyber security breaches could harm our business; (23) privacy concerns relating to our business could damage our reputation and deter current and potential users from using our services; (24) interruption or failure of our network, information systems or other technologies could impair our ability to provide our services, which could damage our reputation and harm our operating results; (25) our business depends on effective business support systems and processes; (26) if we, or other industry participants, are unable to successfully defend against disputes or legal actions, we could face substantial liabilities or suffer harm to our financial and operational prospects; (27) we may be accused of infringing upon the intellectual property rights of third parties, which is costly to defend and could limit our ability to use certain technologies in the future; (28) we may not be able to protect our intellectual property; (29) we may be unable to hire and retain sufficient qualified personnel, and the loss of any of our key executive officers could adversely affect us; (30) unfavorable general economic conditions could harm our business; (31) government regulations could adversely affect our business or force us to change our business practices; (32) our business may suffer if third parties are unable to provide services or terminate their relationships with us; (33) we may be required to recognize impairment charges on our goodwill and other intangible assets, which would adversely affect our results of operations and financial position; (34) we may have exposure to greater than anticipated tax liabilities and we may be limited in the use of our net operating losses and certain other tax attributes in the future; (35) our indebtedness could adversely affect our financial health and limit our ability to react to changes in our business and industry; (36) we may require substantial capital to support business growth, and this capital may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all; (37) our debt agreements include restrictive covenants, and failure to comply with these covenants could trigger acceleration of payment of outstanding indebtedness; (38) we may reduce, or cease payment of, quarterly cash dividends; (39) our stock price may be volatile; (40) provisions of our certificate of incorporation, bylaws and other elements of our capital structure could limit our share price and delay a change of control of the company; and (41) our bylaws designate the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders' flexibility in obtaining a judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees. These risks and uncertainties, as well as other risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ significantly from management's expectations, are not intended to represent a complete list of all risks and uncertainties inherent in our business, and should be read in conjunction with the more detailed cautionary statements and risk factors included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014.

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