Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) announced the retirement of C. Berdon Lawrence, Kirby's Chairman of the Board, effective April 27, 2010, the date of Kirby's 2010 Annual Stockholders and Board of Directors Meetings. Mr. Lawrence has served as Chairman of Kirby since October 1999. He was the founder and former President of Hollywood Marine, Inc., an inland tank barge company acquired by Kirby on October 12, 1999. Lawrence will serve as a consultant to Kirby and will remain on the Kirby Board.
Commenting on his retirement from Kirby, Lawrence stated, "Ten years ago on this date, October 12, 1999, we merged Hollywood with Kirby, combining the United States' largest and third largest inland tank barge companies, and by all business and financial measurements, it has been a very successful merger. I have really enjoyed these last ten years, and as you know the tank barge business has been my life's business career. All successful companies must have effective succession planning, and I see this move as a small part of that very important process. Kirby has a great future ahead, and I look forward to staying involved in my new role as a director, consultant and as one of Kirby's Chairman Emeritus."
Commenting on Lawrence's retirement, Joe Pyne, Kirby's President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "I have certainly enjoyed working with Berdon over the past ten years, beginning with the integration of Hollywood into Kirby, and continuing over the years with Kirby's strategy of enhancing and growing our core businesses through synergistic acquisitions, and creating enhanced earnings and value for our shareholders. Under Berdon's watch, we have grown our assets from $753 million in 1999 to $1.5 billion today and our revenues from $513 million in 2000 to $1.4 billion in 2008."
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