HOUSTON, Dec. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Bristow Group Inc. announced today changes and improvements in its organizational structure designed to improve operations and financial performance.
Key changes to the Company's organizational structure include the following:
-- The Eastern and Western Hemisphere divisional boundaries will be eliminated, and centralized operations will be managed under a single global organization. -- The Other International and Latin America business units will be merged into a single International Business Unit. -- The Gulf of Mexico and Arctic business units will be combined into a single North America Business Unit. -- A global shared services organization will be created to support finance, accounting, human resources and information technology.
"These fundamental structural changes in the organization will help us create new value and deliver better results by optimizing our organization and operations, thereby reducing or eliminating duplicate cost structures and overhead," said William E. Chiles, President and Chief Executive Officer.
"This is a significant step in moving to an integrated global organization - a natural extension of our One Mission. One World. One Team. philosophy. The new organization will be led by a streamlined senior management team using a simple structure focused on winning work, doing work, and supporting work while maintaining our focus on the safety of our customers and employees," he added.
As part of the reorganization, Mark Duncan will assume the role of Senior Vice President, Commercial, responsible for global business development, mergers and acquisitions, planning and budgeting, strategy, non-consolidated operations and joint ventures and Bristow Academy. He will also coordinate the Company's original equipment manufacturer ("OEM") relationships.
Richard Burman will assume the role of Senior Vice President, Operations, with responsibility for all business units across the globe, centralized operations, global quality, safety and standards and recurrent training.
Hilary Ware will assume the role of Senior Vice President, Administration, with responsibility for global human resources, information technology, global communications and shared services for finance, accounting, human resources and IT, corporate office support and global travel.
Elizabeth Brumley will continue in her role as the Chief Financial Officer, and Randall Stafford will continue in his role as General Counsel, both reporting to Bill Chiles.
"With this new structure, we expect to see improved transparency in the flow of information and reporting around the Company, and by centralizing our operations, standards, safety and recurrent training organizations, we believe we can enhance delivery and global integration," Chiles said.
Patrick Corr, Senior Vice President for global training, has decided to retire to pursue other opportunities. As a result, Bristow Academy will report to Mark Duncan. In addition, the Vice President, Global Business Development position held by Meera Sikka has been eliminated, and Sikka is no longer with the Company.
ABOUT BRISTOW GROUP INC.
Bristow Group Inc. is a leading provider of helicopter services to the worldwide offshore energy industry. Through its subsidiaries, affiliates and joint ventures, the Company has major transportation operations in the North Sea, Nigeria and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, and in most of the other major offshore oil and gas producing regions of the world, including Alaska, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Russia and Trinidad. For more information, visit the Company's website at http://www.bristowgroup.com/.
Forward Looking Statements Disclosure
Statements contained in this news release that state the Company's or management's intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations or predictions of the future are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding the impact of activity levels, commodity prices, business performance, turnaround timing, market conditions, liquidity and financial flexibility. It is important to note that the Company's actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements is contained from time to time in the Company's SEC filings, including but not limited to the Company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2009 and annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009. Bristow Group Inc. disclaims any intention or obligation to revise any forward-looking statements, including financial estimates, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Linda McNeill, Investor Relations (713) 267-7622
Bristow Group Inc.
CONTACT: Linda McNeill, Investor Relations of Bristow Group Inc.,
+1-713-267-7622
Web Site: http://www.bristowgroup.com/
