BRS Aerospace Appoints Sebastian Valdez As New CFO
Ballistic Recovery Systems, Inc. d/b/a BRS Aerospace of South St. Paul, Minnesota, USA (PINKSHEETS: BRSI) announced the appointment of Mr. Sebastian Valdez as Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of BRS.
Thomas H. Adams Jr., a member of the BRS board since 1986, is retiring effective immediately. Sebastian Valdez will take Adams' place on the board.
Mr. Valdez is a Director at High F Inc., a private investment firm based in Miami, FL. Prior to joining High F, Mr. Valdez was a Director of BancBoston Capital, a private equity firm based in Boston, MA, where he led the firm's investment activities in Latin America. In that capacity, he was responsible for a regional investment strategy and managed a portfolio of over $250 million in private equity investments in several countries in Latin America and the United States. Prior to joining BancBoston Capital, Mr. Valdez was Vice President at BancBoston Robertson Stephens, an investment bank, where he was primarily responsible for the execution of capital markets transactions.
He will report to the company's chief executive officer.
"We are very pleased with our latest addition to the BRS Aerospace team," said Larry E. Williams, President and CEO of BRS. "Sebastian Valdez brings significant capital market experience to the company and will be an invaluable contributor to our corporate governance, corporate finance, financial reporting and treasury management activities."
"We would like to thank Tom Adams for his many outstanding contributions to BRS over the past 26 years and respect his decision to retire," said BRS founder Boris Popov. "Sebastian adds breadth of discipline to our board of directors, bringing substantial financing and M&A experience coupled with his executive level experience in business development and as a director at BancBoston Capital."
"Over the past two years we have experienced significant challenges driven by market conditions," says Williams. "Our business is growing again at a rapid pace, and we need a very senior person to help execute our business plan. Sebastian's background is uniquely suited to our growth strategy. He successfully secured private equity and debt financings and managed the complexities of mergers and acquisitions for numerous companies. All these experiences, coupled with his strong operations capabilities made Sebastian the perfect fit for our growing team," concluded Williams.
Earlier this month, BRS finalized an arrangement with High F which includes senior secured debt facilities and equity, whereby High F became the largest shareholder in BRS, holding preferred stock convertible into a 33.3% common equity interest in BRS.
About BRS Aerospace
Based in South Saint Paul, Minnesota, BRS Aerospace consists of three divisions: BRS Aviation which designs, manufactures, and distributes whole-aircraft emergency parachute systems for general aviation and recreational aircraft; BRS Defense which designs and manufactures a variety of parachute systems for US Department of Defense and foreign military customers; and BRS Safety which designs and manufactures reflective and load-bearing safety vests and other. Since 1981, BRS Aerospace has delivered more than 31,000 parachute systems to aircraft owners worldwide, including over 4,700 systems on FAA-certificated aircraft such as Cessna 172/182 and the new C-162 Skycatcher, as well as the Piper Sport LSA. To date, BRS Aerospace parachute recovery systems have been credited with saving the lives of 250 pilots and passengers.
