ATLANTA, Sept. 24, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Church's Chicken(tm), a division of AFC Enterprises, Inc. (Ticker: AFCE), today announced that Daniel H. Bauer has been named Chief Financial Officer.
Mr. Bauer has 15-years of experience in finance, tax and treasury, and most recently served as Vice President -- Finance and Tax at AFC Enterprises. Mr. Bauer replaces Carl Jakaitis, who resigned to join the organization of a large Church's Chicken franchisee.
In his new role, Bauer will be responsible for all facets of Church's financial operations, including capital allocation, financial planning and analysis, budgeting, resource management and initiatives related to Information Technology. In addition, he will provide strategic support to the company's franchisees. Working closely with Church's senior management team, Bauer will play an active role in corporate strategic planning.
"Given Dan's experience in the restaurant industry and his accomplishments at AFC, he will immediately add value to the Church's management team. His expertise will also be effective in preparing and executing our strategic growth plans," said Church's Chicken president, Hala Moddelmog.
Prior to joining Church's Chicken, Bauer worked the last six years at AFC Enterprises, most recently as Vice President -- Finance and Tax. In his latest role, he was responsible for strategic tax planning and compliance, as well as various finance and treasury related projects. He also served on the management committees for the Deferred Compensation and 401K Plans and as the liaison to the Audit Committee of the AFC Board of Directors for all corporate tax matters. Prior to joining AFC Enterprises, Bauer was a Senior Tax Manager at Price Waterhouse where he specialized in food industry companies and provided tax planning and compliance services to a range of clients including Fortune 500 companies and high-net worth individuals.
Bauer is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Association for Financial Professionals and the Institute for Professionals in Taxation. He holds certificates as a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Treasury Professional and Certified Member of the Institute of Professionals in Taxation. Bauer received a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and Finance and a Masters in Accountancy from the University of Tennessee. More recently, he completed the Executive MBA program at Emory University's Goizueta Business School.
About Church's Chicken
Church's Chicken, one of the world's largest quick-service chicken restaurant concepts, focuses on high quality food served at a value price. Menu specialties include Southern-style chicken and side items such as corn on the cob, fried okra, mashed potatoes and gravy, and signature Honey-Butter Biscuits. Church's Chicken has more than 1,500 locations worldwide, driving system-wide sales of approximately $900 million in 2001. Visit Church's Chicken on the World Wide Web at www.churchs.com.
About AFC Enterprises
AFC Enterprises, Inc. is the franchisor and operator of 4,015 restaurants, bakeries and cafes as of September 7, 2003, in the United States, Puerto Rico and 35 foreign countries under the brand names Popeyes(r) Chicken & Biscuits, Church's Chicken(tm) and Cinnabon(r), and the franchisor of Seattle's Best Coffee(r) in Hawaii, on military bases and internationally. AFC's primary objective is to be the world's Franchisor of Choice(r) by offering investment opportunities in highly recognizable brands and exceptional franchisee support systems and services. AFC Enterprises had system-wide sales of approximately $2.7 billion in 2002 and can be found on the World Wide Web at www.afce.com.