BRADENTON, Fla., Sept. 6, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Morgan Beaumont, Inc. (OTCBB:MBEU), a premier technology solution provider to the Stored Value and Prepaid Card market and owner of the SIRE Network(tm), today announced that Clifford Wildes, Founder, Chairman of the Board and CEO, will be relinquishing his duties as Chief Executive Officer in order to devote more time to his other businesses. Mr. Wildes will remain as Chairman of the Board at Morgan Beaumont and continue to be active in the development of overall corporate strategy and in maintaining important strategic relationships.
Jerry R. Welch has been named the new CEO of Morgan Beaumont. Mr. Welch is the Chairman of the Board of Picture People Inc., a leading chain of 320 portrait studios. Since 1990, Mr. Welch has previously been the CEO of FAO Schwarz Inc., CEO of FAO, Inc., Chairman and CEO of Right Start, Chairman and CEO of Glacier Water Services Inc., and a Managing Director and Partner of Kayne Anderson Investment Management, Inc., a Los Angeles-based investment management firm.
"Over the past months I have been communicating with Jerry about joining Morgan Beaumont," stated Wildes. "As the Company moves into a revenue generating phase, the timing is perfect for both parties. His experience in the consumer goods and retail market will make him an excellent addition to the existing management team at this pivotal stage." Welch will also be appointed to Morgan Beaumont's Board of Directors. In conjunction with this appointment, Erik Jensen has resigned from the board but will remain as President of Morgan Beaumont. Mr. Jensen will continue to focus his efforts on executing the numerous revenue opportunities currently on the Company's agenda.
Additionally, Raymond P. Springer has been named Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, replacing Interim CFO Alec Brophy. For the past three years, Mr. Springer, a Certified Public Accountant, has been working as a strategic consultant to a major private equity firm and to certain other commercial firms. Since 1990, he has held positions as Executive Vice President and CFO of FAO, Inc., Payless Cashways, Inc., Jumbo Sports and Kash N Karry Supermarkets. Wildes added, "As we welcome Ray to Morgan Beaumont, we also thank Alec Brophy for the excellent job he did as the Interim CFO during this critical phase in the Company's growth.
"It is a testimony to the current management and the Company's core business that Morgan Beaumont is able to expand its senior management team with executives of this caliber. As I have mentioned in the past, one of my objectives as the SIRE Network was built out, was to expand senior management with seasoned and respected professionals to execute the revenue opportunities that the development of the SIRE Network has created. With the addition of Jerry Welch and Ray Springer, and the recent addition of Jerry Uffner as Vice President of Sales, I believe we have taken considerable steps in that direction. In closing, the business model, strategy and direction of our organization will continue as we have previously communicated," concluded Wildes.
Morgan Beaumont, Inc. is a Technology Solutions Company located in Bradenton, Florida, and is one of the premier providers of Stored Value and Prepaid Card Solutions in the United States. The Company has developed the SIRE Network(tm), a secure, reliable, point of sale (POS) and PC based software platform that connects retail merchants with multiple Stored Value/Prepaid Card Processors and Issuing Banks, in addition to private transaction networks and IVR and CRM technology. The Company owns and operates the SIRE Network as a standardized, national network of Stored Value and Prepaid Card cash load stations located throughout the United States. Morgan Beaumont is a Discover Network Issuer, MasterCard Third Party Processor Member Service Provider (TPP MSP) and a Visa Independent Sales Organization (ISO). To learn more about Morgan Beaumont, please visit http://www.morganbeaumont.com.
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Statements about the expected future prospects of our business and all other statements in this release other than historical facts, constitute forward-looking statements. You can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as "believes," "expects," "may," "will," "would," "should," "seeks," "approximately," "intends," "plans," "estimates," or "anticipates" or similar expressions which concern our strategy, plans or intentions. All statements we make relating to estimated and projected earnings, margins, costs, expenditures, cash flows, growth rates and financial results are forward-looking statements. In addition, we, through our senior management, from time to time make forward-looking public statements concerning our expected future operations and performance and other developments. All of these forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may change at any time, and, therefore, our actual results may differ materially from those we expected. We derive most of our forward-looking statements from our operating budgets and forecasts, which are based upon many detailed assumptions. While we believe that our assumptions are reasonable, we caution that it is very difficult to predict the impact of known factors, and, of course, it is impossible for us to anticipate all factors that could affect our actual results. Some of the factors that we believe could affect our results include: general economic and market conditions, including the lingering effects of the economic slowdown and services revenue; the overall condition of the bank card industry, including the effect of any further consolidation among financial services firms; the regulatory, credit and market risks associated with our operations; the integration of acquired businesses, the performance of our businesses; the effect of war, terrorism or catastrophic events; the timing and magnitude of sales; the timing and scope of technological advances; the ability to retain and attract customers and key personnel; and the ability to obtain patent protection and avoid patent-related liabilities in the context of a rapidly developing legal framework for software and business-method patents. The factors described in this paragraph and other factors that may affect our business or future financial results and when applicable, are discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Form 10-K, a copy of which may be obtained from us without charge. We assume no obligation to update any written or oral forward-looking statement made by us or on our behalf as a result of new information, future events or other factors.