Lexington, Kentucky-based mattress major Tempur Sealy International accepted the resignations of three members of its board of directors on May 11, following the May 8 annual stockholder meeting in which they did not receive a majority of the votes cast for their re-election to the board. Tendering their resignations in accordance with company bylaws were Chairman P. Andrews McLane; Christopher Masto, chairman of the nominating and corporate governance committee; and Mark Sarvary, president and chief executive officer. Timothy Yaggi, chief operating officer, will serve as interim CEO during the search for Sarvary’s replacement.
The company appointed Usman Nabi of H Partners Management LLC to the board as a new independent director. H Partners holds a 10% stake in Tempur Sealy and had lobbied for changes to the company’s board prior to the annual meeting. In conjunction with the appointment, Nabi will be added to the board’s compensation committee.
Frank Doyle was elected chairman of the board. Doyle has served on the board of directors and was chairman of the audit committee since 2003. In conjunction with the appointment, he withdrew from the audit committee and compensation committee.
Tempur Sealy has begun a process to confirm an additional independent director recommended by H Partners and acceptable to the board. Nabi serves as chairman of the CEO search committee, which will engage an executive search firm to assist with a comprehensive search process to identify a permanent CEO.
The appointment of Nabi and an additional director brings the Tempur Sealy board to 10 directors, nine of whom are independent, a news release said.
“During Mark Sarvary’s tenure, Tempur Sealy has been transformed from a niche specialty player into a truly one-of-a-kind, global bedding provider, with a complete and complementary range of iconic brands that are recognized around the world,” Doyle said. “Mark has led this company through periods of challenge and growth, including playing the key role in the transformative acquisition of Sealy, to bring Tempur Sealy to its position today as the industry leader, while delivering a total shareholder return of more than 500% since joining the company as CEO in 2008. Tempur Sealy has momentum and is poised to continue delivering significant value, and on behalf of the entire board, we thank Mark for his service and immeasurable contributions to our company over the years and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.
“We are fortunate to have a strong leader of the caliber of our chief operating officer, Tim Yaggi, to step into the CEO role on an interim basis while the board conducts its search process,” Doyle continued. “We are confident that Tim’s abilities and experience, together with the deep bench of talent in place at Tempur Sealy, will ensure a smooth transition for the benefit of all our stakeholders.
“The board would also like to thank Andy McLane and Chris Masto for their many years of dedicated service to Tempur Sealy. During their tenure, the company has grown in enterprise value from approximately $350 million to approximately $5 billion, and company sales have increased from approximately $250 million to approximately $3 billion. Their numerous contributions and perspective as members of the board have been invaluable in positioning Tempur Sealy to succeed over the longterm. We look forward to continuing to deliver on many of the objectives and practices they created and wish them well in the future.”
