Crane Holdings, Co. (“Crane,” NYSE: CR), a diversified manufacturer of highly engineered industrial products, today announced the members of its board of directors and executive officers for Crane NXT, which is scheduled to become an independent, publicly traded company following its April 3, 2023 separation transaction.
Aaron W. Saak, Crane NXT President and Chief Executive Officer, commented: “Crane NXT is beginning its journey as a new public company with an outstanding, highly experienced board of directors and executive team. Importantly, we will benefit both from continuity in our leadership ranks as well as new perspectives. We look forward to hitting the ground running as we embark on this exciting new chapter for our company and build on the strong foundation we have in place to deliver long-term growth and value creation for our stakeholders.”
The Crane NXT board of directors will be composed of (* indicates carry over from Crane’s current board):
- John S. Stroup (Chairman)*: With more than 30 years of experience in highly engineered product manufacturing, Mr. Stroup is the former Chairman, President, and CEO of Belden Inc., a leader in signal transmission and security solutions. He is currently an operating advisor at Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and director of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corp. Mr. Stroup has extensive experience in industrial manufacturing and business strategy development.
- Michael Dinkins*: Mr. Dinkins is President and CEO of Dinkins Financial, a consulting firm that helps small businesses gain access to capital, and previously held a number of roles with Integer Holdings Corporation including serving as a board member and as CFO. He currently serves as a director of Community Health Systems, Inc. and The Shyft Group. Mr. Dinkins has sophisticated financial expertise acquired through public company chief financial officer, chief executive officer and financial, IT and internal audit roles.
- William Grogan: Mr. Grogan currently serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of IDEX Corp., which he joined more than a decade ago. Prior to becoming CFO, Mr. Grogan was the finance leader of all operations for IDEX, spanning a global manufacturing footprint that creates mission-critical components for a wide range of markets. He previously led store operations finance for Walgreens. Mr. Grogan has extensive financial expertise acquired as a public company chief financial officer, including significant experience in strategic planning, and mergers and acquisitions, along with a history of optimizing capital deployment through a disciplined acquisition strategy and a consistent philosophy of returning funds to shareholders.
- Cristen Kogl: With more than 30 years of legal experience, Ms. Kogl currently serves as Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Zebra Technologies. She joined Zebra Technologies in 2015 having previously served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of National Express LLC and in legal roles with a number of additional corporations. Ms. Kogl has operational and organizational expertise from managing global legal and compliance teams, with experience in mergers & acquisitions, intellectual property, U.S. public company governance and SEC regulations, executive compensation, commercial contracting, enterprise risk management, litigation management, labor relations, government affairs, and compliance functions.
- Ellen McClain*: Ms. McClain has extensive experience in financing and operating roles at public and private enterprises, including the New York Racing Association and Hearst-Argyle Television. Ms. McClain is currently President of Year Up, a non-profit provider of job training, and a director of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. She has broad experience as a senior executive with responsibility for organizational direction and development, financial expertise, and intellectual capital.
- Max H. Mitchell*: Mr. Mitchell currently serves as President and CEO of Crane Holdings, Co. and will serve as Crane Company’s President and CEO following the separation. Mr. Mitchell has been with Crane since 2004, in previous roles as President of Crane’s Fluid Handling Group, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, and President and Chief Operating Officer. Before joining Crane, he served in operating roles at Pentair Tool Group and Danaher Corp., and began his career at Ford Motor Company. He is a member of the G100 and sits on the Board of Trustees of the Manufacturers Alliance.
- Aaron W. Saak: Mr. Saak was appointed Crane NXT President and CEO in November 2022 and has more than 20 years of experience leading technology-focused businesses for multinational organizations. Before joining Crane, Mr. Saak served as President and CEO of Mobility Solutions and President of Gilbarco Veeder-Root (GVR), a subsidiary of the Vontier Corporation. Prior to GVR, Mr. Saak held senior leadership roles with Tyco International, including as Vice President, General Manager for the SimplexGrinnell business. Additionally, his career includes a ten-year tenure at General Electric. Mr. Saak has years of experience leading complex engineered technology businesses for world class industrial organizations; he has built strong teams with a high degree of ethics, integrity, collaboration, empowerment, and entrepreneurial spirit; he is customer focused, process-driven, with a continuous improvement mindset, applying a metrics-oriented approach to driving business performance; and he is a proven leader at driving successful profitable growth for all stakeholders.
- James L.L. Tullis*: Mr. Tullis is a highly experienced venture capital investor with significant expertise in management, strategy, finance, and governance matters. He is Chairman of Tullis Health Investors, LLC, a venture capital firm, as well as the Chairman of the Board of Lord Abbett & Co. Mutual Funds, and a director of Alphatec Holdings, Inc. and Exagen Diagnostics.
A ninth member of the Crane NXT board will be appointed, and a search for that position is underway. Messrs. Tullis and Mitchell are expected to remain on the Crane NXT Board for a short transitionary period so Crane NXT may benefit from their respective insights and experience.
The executive officers of Crane NXT will be (* indicates significant tenure at Crane Holdings, Co. pre-separation):
- Aaron W. Saak, President & Chief Executive Officer: Bio above
- Christina Cristiano, Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer*: With nearly three decades of financial and accounting experience, Ms. Cristiano previously served as Crane Holdings’ Vice President, Controller & Chief Accounting Officer. Prior to joining Crane in 2019, Ms. Cristiano held senior management roles with Thomson Reuters and Ernst & Young.
- Paul G. Igoe, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary: Mr. Igoe is a highly experienced general counsel in the industrial technology sector and previously served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, and Secretary of Excelitas Technologies Corp. Prior to joining Excelitas, he served in general counsel roles with a number of technology companies and began his career with Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale and Dorr LLP.
- Jennifer Kartono, Senior Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer: With an HR career spanning over 28 years with public companies, Ms. Kartono most recently served as Senior Vice President and Global Human Resources for Iron Mountain, Inc. Prior to Iron Mountain, she held HR leadership roles with Iona Technologies.
- Kurt Gallo, Senior Vice President*: Mr. Gallo joined Crane in 2008 and is an experienced executive with a deep management and engineering background, having previously held a number of leadership roles with Danaher Corporation. Since 2019, Mr. Gallo has overseen the Crane Payment Solutions (CPI) and Crane Currency businesses and will continue to do so for Crane NXT.
- Bianca B. Shardelow, Vice President, Controller & Chief Accounting Officer*: Ms. Shardelow has served as Crane’s Chief Audit Executive since 2019 overseeing the global Internal Audit organization. Prior to joining Crane, she held accounting and compliance roles with Refinitiv and Thomson Reuters and began her career at Deloitte in South Africa.
Other key executives of Crane NXT will be (* indicates significant tenure at Crane Holdings, Co. pre-separation):
- Kris R. Salovaara, Vice President, Business Development & Strategy*: Mr. Salovaara joined Crane in 2011 with responsibility for strategy, acquisitions, and divestitures, and he was instrumental in the acquisitions and integrations of MEI, Crane Currency, and Cummins Allison, among other transactions. Prior to joining Crane, he gained extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions from investment banking roles at FBR Capital Markets, Goldman Sachs, Bear Stearns, Helander Partners, and Watch Hill Partners.
- Paul French, Vice President, Crane Business System*: Mr. French was appointed Vice President of Crane NXT Business System (CBS) in 2023, and he has responsibility for CBS globally. He joined Crane in 2011 and held operations and general management roles in the Crane Payment Innovations business until his appointment as Director of CBS in 2021. Prior to joining Crane, Paul had a successful career holding various operations and general management positions with Continental Automotive and Linde Heavy Truck Division.
