Gaithersburg, MD, Sept. 30, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Verus International, Inc. (“Verus” or the “Company”) (OTCQB:VRUS) today announced that it has named industry veteran Michael McGowan to the role of General Counsel.
Michael brings more than 25 years of experience to this new position at Verus. He most recently served in a similar role at the restaurant company Cava Group, where he led the legal efforts for the acquisition of Zoe’s Kitchen for approximately $300 million in November 2018. Previously, he served as a corporate consultant to Neustar, which was publicly traded until it was acquired for approximately $2.9 billion and taken private in August 2017. His private company experience includes the role of General Counsel at AddThis, a data solutions company that was acquired by Oracle in 2016.
In addition to other executive positions at several successful technology companies, Mr. McGowan also served as Vice President, Strategy and Business Development and Associate General Counsel at AOL & Time Warner. He was a key senior team member during five years in which AOL revenue grew from $400 million to $10 billion; and was involved in multiple public company acquisitions, including Time Warner ($155 billion), Netscape ($1.2 billion), MapQuest ($1 billion) and MovieFone ($500 million). He was also instrumental in strategic investments (including operating agreements) with Hughes ($1.5 billion), Gateway ($600 million), Tivo ($200 million) and Kinko’s ($150 million). He graduated from Harvard College with an A.B. in Economics and received his J.D. from Georgetown University.
“Sometimes, you come across industry veterans with a breadth of experience that is exceptional, so to have someone of Michael’s caliber join Verus is gratifying,” said CEO Anshu Bhatnagar. “We’ve known for a while that we needed in-house Counsel, partly due to the growing size and complexity of our M&A and international dealings, but also with an eye toward the increasing number of product lines that we intend to add. We expect that this new position will speed up our transactions and save Verus considerable legal costs in future quarters. To say that we are excited to have Michael join us would be an understatement.”
“Throughout my career, I have had the opportunity to be a senior leader for several amazing growth stories. That is one of the reasons I joined Verus at this key point in its business acceleration,” explained Mr. McGowan. “Many of the largest companies in the world came from humble beginnings, so the opportunity to help shape Verus during a period of hyper growth is very appealing. I am excited to join the Verus team.”
Additional Updates
The Company is scheduled to present at the LD Micro Main Event in Los Angeles on Tuesday, December 10, 2019 at 1:40 pm PST. The LD Micro Conference is one of the premier institutional microcap investor conferences in the U.S.
Operationally, Big League Foods released its second ice cream shipment to its distributor on September 13, 2019 and is currently engaged in developing new candy designs for the 2020 season.
In addition to selected corporate commentary, interested investors are encouraged to monitor upcoming product announcements via the official Twitter feed @Verus_Foods and the Big League Foods subsidiary Twitter feed @BigLeagueFoods.
About Verus International, Inc.
Verus International operates an international food subsidiary (Verus Foods) that sells branded consumer products to customers worldwide. The Company trades on the OTC market (OTCQB: VRUS). Investors can find real-time quotes and market information for the Company on www.otcmarkets.com. Additional information is also available at the Company website: www.verusfoods.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are identified by the use of the words “could,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “expect,” “may,” “continue,” “predict,” “potential,” “project” and similar expressions that are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Although we believe that our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that these plans, objectives, expectations or intentions will be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical experience and present expectations or projections. Actual results could differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements and the trading price for our common stock may fluctuate significantly. Forward-looking statements also are affected by the risk factors described in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Contacts
Investor Contact:
MKR Group Inc.
Todd Kehrli or Mark Forney
vrus@mkr-group.com