Acosta Reveals New Board of Directors After Recapitalization
Acosta Inc., a full-service sales and marketing agency serving the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry, has revealed its new board of directors in the wake of the company’s successful recapitalization. The Jacksonville, Fla.-based company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year in a deal that converted $3 billion of debt into equity.
The new appointees are Joe Crafton, former CEO of CPG sales and marketing agency Crossmark; Mark Gross, CEO of Minneapolis-based distributor and retailer Supervalu from 2016 to 2018 and co-president, CFO and general counsel of Keene, N.H.-based C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc. from 1997 to 2006; Joe Hartsig, an SVP at Walgreens; and Grant LaMontagne, former SVP/chief customer officer at The Clorox Co., former president, consumer sales/customer development for Kimberly-Clark North America, chairman of the sales committee for the Grocery Manufacturers of America (now the Consumer Brands Association) from 2005 to 2011, and currently a senior advisor with McKinsey & Co.
Other board members are Acosta CEO Darian Pickett and representatives from the company's largest investors — funds associated with Elliott Management, Oaktree Capital Management L.P., Davidson Kempner Capital Management and Nexus Capital Management — which collectively manage almost $200 billion in assets.
“We’re entering a new decade feeling energized and more confident than ever with the addition of our new board members,” noted Pickett. “The depth of experience among this impressive group of leaders will provide Acosta with an unparalleled competitive edge as we set our sights on strategic growth and innovation for the benefit of our clients, customers and people.”
The new board of directors assumed their responsibilities Jan. 1 and will be augmented by an advisory board, which will be appointed early this year to provide further industry expertise and other benefits.
Supervalu was acquired in 2018 by Providence, R.I.-based United Natural Foods Inc., the largest publicly traded grocery distributor in the United States, which is No. 30 on Progressive Grocer’s 2019 Super 50 list of the top grocers in the United States.
