Xebec Adsorption appoints Petrowski to board
March 23, 2017
JOSEPH H. PETROWSKI JOINS XEBEC'S BOARD OF DIRECTORS, DR. PRABHU K. RAO NAMED CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, XEBEC GRANTS STOCK OPTIONS
Joseph H. Petrowski has joined Xebec Adsorption Inc.'s board of directors and Dr. Prabhu K. Rao was named chief operating officer (COO) of the company.
From 2005 through 2013, Mr. Petrowski led the Cumberland Farms Gulf Oil Group, a diversified petroleum and retail convenience store holding company located in 29 states with more than 8,000 employees and $13-billion in annual revenues. Cumberland Farms is the 34th largest private company on the Forbes 500 list. During his tenure as chief executive officer, the company achieved record earnings.
After leaving Cumberland Farms, Mr. Petrowski founded Mercantor Partners, a private equity group focused on downstream energy investments.
Mr. Petrowski is a member of the board and non-executive chairman of Gulf Oil.
He is also a member of the board of South Jersey Industries, a publicly traded natural gas utility and national energy merchant, a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston's Advisory Council, a trustee of both Boston College High School and Trinity Catholic Schools, and he serves on the board of the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers.
He has written numerous articles on energy and public policy, regulation and market development, and is a frequent guest on CNBC, Fox Business News, MSNBC and Bloomberg radio. He has been a contributing editor to the Wall Street Journal and has testified before Congress and several regulatory agencies on energy and international trade issues.
Mr. Petrowski graduated cum laude from Harvard University.
Furthermore, Xebec announces the appointment of Dr. Prabhu K. Rao, a current board member of Xebec, to the position of chief operating officer, effective March 3, 2017. Before joining Xebec, Dr. Rao was a founding member of Nuvera Fuel Cells LLC, today part of Hyster-Yale, where he was instrumental in establishing the product development, manufacturing operations, supply chain management, and sales and marketing functions for Nuvera. More recently, he was the CEO of McPhy Energy North America, a leading manufacturer of electrolyzer and energy storage products for hydrogen.
He has technical expertise in the areas of fuelling infrastructure, power generation, fuel cells, energy storage and electric mobility. Dr. Rao has a keen interest in entrepreneurship and in guiding technologies from the laboratory to the commercial world. He is a member of the Massachusetts Hydrogen Coalition and founding member of TIE Angels, an angel investment group. Dr. Rao's strength lies in building the right team at the right time and developing a culture that fosters innovation but excels in execution.
Dr. Rao holds a master's and PhD degree in mechanical engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pa.
"Over the past few months the visibility for our revenue and profitability have significantly improved, and in anticipation of the accelerated growth Xebec is taking the necessary steps to strengthen its board and management team in line with the prospects and challenges these improvements and developments will pose," said Kurt Sorschak, chairman, president and CEO of Xebec.
"We are really fortunate to have been able to attract high calibre people like Joe and Prabhu, who both have a wealth of experience, possess industry and market knowledge as well as have the necessary contacts to help us grow our business.
"Joe, a veteran in the oil and gas industry, brings expertise to the company that Xebec needs in order to successfully expand into the O&G field with its advanced solutions for CO2 removal from natural gas and its associated gas treatment systems which remove heavy hydrocarbons from gas streams. He will be an invaluable source of market knowledge, support and guidance for the board and the management team. In addition, his knowledge of the compressed natural gas (CNG) fuelling industry will be useful in promoting our CNG dryer products in this emerging industry.
"Prabhu brings with him a wealth of operational experience gained in companies that have undergone rapid growth while staying at the forefront of innovation. Prabhu has been on the board of Xebec for the last two years, and therefore starts in his new position with a solid understanding of its product and operation and will be able to make a contribution immediately. I personally think, that it is a particularly positive sign for Xebec, that Prabhu has joined Xebec on a full-time basis, because he sees and realizes the opportunities and growth potential Xebec has."
As part of Dr. Rao's compensation, 1,973,193 incentive stock options were granted on March 5, 2017, at a price of 18 cents per share which is the closing price as at March 3, 2017. The incentive stock options are exercisable for a period of seven years from the date of the grant (March 5, 2017). One million fifty thousand of the incentive stock options vest immediately, 750,000 will vest on March 5, 2018, and 173,193 will vest on March 5, 2019.
The corporation has also granted 135,000 incentive stock options on March 5, 2017, to one newly appointed officer and two employees. All these incentive stock options are exercisable at a price of 18 cents with an expiration date in seven years (March 5, 2024). One-third of the incentive stock options vested on March 5, 2017, the second third will vest on March 5, 2018, and the last third will vest on March 5, 2019.
All the stock options granted in this release are conditional upon the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange and the shareholders at the annual general meeting planned in June, 2017.
About Xebec Adsorption Inc.
Xebec Adsorption is a global provider of clean energy solutions to corporations and governments looking to reduce their carbon footprints. With more than 1,500 customers worldwide, Xebec designs, engineers and manufactures innovative products that transform raw gases into marketable sources of clean energy. Xebec's strategy is focused on establishing leadership positions in markets where demand for renewable energy through gas purification and generation, natural gas dehydration, and filtration is growing. Headquartered in Montreal, Que., Xebec is a global company with two manufacturing facilities in Montreal and Shanghai, as well as a sales and distribution network in North America, Europe and Asia.
