GREENWICH, Conn., Feb. 2, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Blyth, Inc. (NYSE:BTH), a leader in home fragrance and decorative accessories, today announced the election of Wilma Jordan to its Board of Directors.
Ms. Jordan is founder and Chief Executive Officer of New York-based media investment bank The Jordan, Edmiston Group. She is also a founding general partner and Chief Executive Officer of JEGI Capital, a venture capital affiliate of Jordan, Edmiston that invests in early-stage Internet, digital communications and e-commerce companies that impact traditional media and market communications industries. Ms. Jordan's involvement in media stems from her rise from an entrepreneurial start-up to leading the media industry's most successful boutique investment bank.
Prior to its sale to Berkshire Hathaway in 2002, Ms. Jordan was a director of Clayton Homes, Inc., the largest vertically integrated manufactured housing company. She also served as a director of Lin Television, an independent Nasdaq-listed company that was spun off from Lin Broadcasting in 1994. She served on the Board of Lin Broadcasting at the time of its sale to AT&T in l995. Lin Television was sold to Hicks Muse in l998. Ms. Jordan is currently a member of the Board of Lin TV Corporation, (NYSE:TVL), which she joined after its IPO in May, 2002. In addition, Ms. Jordan is currently a director of Guideposts, Inc., a publisher of Guideposts Magazine and a leading provider of other magazines, books and related products and ministry programs and has served as a Director of several privately held companies.
Robert B. Goergen, Blyth's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said of Ms. Jordan's appointment, "Wilma Jordan brings to Blyth years of entrepreneurial experience as an operating manager in all forms of media. Her unique perspective will be a valuable asset in our future marketing and strategic efforts."
Blyth, Inc., headquartered in Greenwich, CT, USA, is a home decor and home fragrance company that sells its products through multiple channels of distribution throughout North America, Europe and Australia. The Company designs, manufactures and markets an extensive line of candles and home fragrance products, including scented candles, potpourri and other fragranced products, as well as tabletop illumination products and chafing fuel. Blyth also designs and markets a broad range of related candle accessories. Its products are sold direct to the consumer under the PartyLite(r) brand, to retailers in the premium and specialty retail channels under the Colonial Candle of Cape Cod(r), Colonial at HOME(r), Kate's(tm), Carolina(r) and Bloomin' Essence(tm) brands, in the mass retail channel under the Florasense(r), Ambria(r), FilterMate(r) and Sterno(r) brands and to the Foodservice industry under the Sterno(r), Ambria(r) and HandyFuel(r) brands. Within its Creative Expressions segment, Blyth also designs and markets a broad range of home decor, household convenience products and gifts under the CBK(r), Miles Kimball(r), Walter Drake(r) and Exposures(r) brands, seasonal products under the Seasons of Cannon Falls(tm) and Impact(tm) brands, and decorative gift bags under the Jeanmarie(r) brand. In Europe, Blyth's products are also sold under the PartyLite(r), Colonial, Gies(r), Ambria(r), Carolina(r) and Kaemingk(r) brands.
Additional information about Blyth, Inc. can be found on the Internet at www.blyth.com.
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance and underlying assumptions and other statements that are other than statements of historical facts. Actual results could differ materially due to various factors, including the slowing of the United States economy as a whole and the weakness of the retail environment, the effects of our present and future restructurings, the risk that we will be unable to maintain the Company's historic growth rate, the Company's ability to respond appropriately to changes in product demand, the risks (including foreign currency fluctuations, economic and political instability, transportation delays, difficulty in maintaining quality control, trade and foreign tax laws and others) associated with international sales and foreign sourced products, risks associated with our ability to recruit new independent sales consultants, our dependence on key corporate management personnel, risks associated with the sourcing of raw materials for our products, competition in terms of price and new product introductions, risks associated with our information technology systems (including, susceptibility to outages due to fire, floods, power loss, telecommunications failures, computer viruses, break-ins and similar events) and other factors described in this press release, in the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended October 31, 2003 and in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 31, 2003.