NORTH SALEM, N.Y., March 8, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Coda Octopus Group, Inc. (Pink Sheets:CDOC) has announced that two new members have joined its board of directors.
Paul Nussbaum, 57 years old, joins as non-executive Chairman and is a principal partner in the Waramaug Partners Group, a private real estate and special situations equity firm. He is the former Chairman Emeritus of Wyndham International, Inc., (NYSE:WYN), successor to Patriot American Hospitality, Inc. From 1991 to 1999 he served as Founder, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Patriot American Hospitality, Inc., a paired share real estate investment trust (and its predecessor Patriot American Group) which owned the Wyndham, Grand Bay, Malmaison, Summerfield and Clubhouse Inn proprietary hotel brands. Mr. Nussbaum took the company from owning one hotel in 1992 to the fourth largest hospitality company in the United States with approximately $7 billion in total capitalization. Additionally, from 1991 to 1994, the Patriot group acquired over $900 million of property on behalf of institutional investors. Its office portfolios, which totaled 9 million square feet, were successfully sold to two publicly traded real estate investment trusts.
From 1979 to 1991, Mr. Nussbaum served as chairman of the real estate practice group of Schulte Roth & Zabel, a law firm with offices in New York City and London. He was an associate and later a partner for the Dreyer and Traub law firm in New York City from 1971 to 1979. Mr. Nussbaum earned his B.A. degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo and his J.D. degree from Georgetown University Law Center.
Rodney Peacock, Director (58 years old), has been Managing Director of Axiom Marketing & Management Ltd. From 1990 to 1997, he served as Joint Managing Director of Brand Development Company and from 1985 to 1990, Managing Director of Addison Group, a subsidiary of NPL. Mr. Peacock was, from 1981 to 1985, head of the Marketing Group of Arthur Young Consultancy and from 1976 to 1981 General Manager, Retail Products Division of Tate & Lyle. He served as Brand Group Manager of United Biscuits from 1970 to 1976 and was a Research Chemist at Ilford Films from 1964 to 1970. Mr. Peacock received his BSc (Hons) in Physics and Chemistry from London University.
Mr. Nussbaum and Mr. Peacock join founder board members Jason Reid, President, Treasurer and Director, and William Ahearn, Vice-President -- Technology, Secretary and Director.
Jason Reid (39 years old) has been affiliated with Coda Octopus Ltd., since 1994, initially as a director and presently as Managing Director. In addition, he serves as Managing Director of Fairwater Technology Group Ltd., formerly the parent of Coda Octopus Ltd. He was Managing Director of Weight Management Group Ltd., a company which distributes controlled dietary foods throughout Scotland, and Green Meadow Foods Ltd. but became a non-executive director of both companies when he assumed the role of Managing Director of Coda Octopus Ltd. In 1997, he was a Director of William Grant Mining.
Since June 2004, William Ahearn (66 years old) has served as a director and Secretary of Coda Octopus Group, Inc. From 1995 to 1997, he was president of the Systems Division and Chief Scientist and, from 1997 to June, 2004, he was Chief Executive Officer of The Panda Project Inc. Since January, 2003, Mr. Ahearn has been Vice-President -- Business Development of Camelot Industries Ltd., a Hong Kong-based company; since 2002, Director Business Development for K2 Optronics; and since 1997 an independent consultant to companies including Lucent, Motorola, T-Networks and VTel. From 1996 to 1998, he was Vice President Systems AM Communications and from 1993 to 1995, was Director of Multimedia Products and Corporate Technical Advisory Board of AMP Inc. He was employed by IBM Corporation from 1964 to 1993 beginning at the T. J. Watson Research Center, followed by headquarters assignments in both the United States and Europe in various research-oriented and product management capacities. In 1984, Mr. Ahearn was appointed a Research Scientist at the MIT Media Lab and is now a Visiting Scholar. He holds a B.A. in Physics from Clark University and a MSEE degree from New York University.
Commenting on the recent appointments, Jason Reid said, "Paul Nussbaum and Rodney Peacock join us at a time when Coda Octopus has ambitious plans for growth. They both bring exceptional skills and experience which will not only strengthen our board but will boost our efforts to achieve our long-term aims."
Safe Harbor Statement: Except for historical information, the matters set forth herein, which are forward-looking statements, involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, market acceptance of Coda Octopus' planned products and their level of sales, the competitive environment and successful technical and economic implementation.