MIAMI, Sept. 16, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HEICO Corporation (NYSE:HEI.A) (NYSE:HEI) today reported that Joseph W. Pallot has been named General Counsel of the Company and its subsidiaries. Mr. Pallot had been a member of HEICO's Board of Directors since 2004 and he has resigned from the Board in order to accommodate his direct employment by the Company and to allow the percentage of the Company's "independent" directors to remain constant.
Since 2000, Mr. Pallot, who is 48 years of age, has been a shareholder with Devine Goodman Pallot Rasco & Wells, P.A., a Miami, Florida-based transaction and litigation law firm. From 1993 to 2000 he was a partner of the law firm of Steel Hector & Davis, LLP (now part of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P.). Mr. Pallot's practice focused on complex commercial and real estate transactions, including, but not limited to, mergers & acquisitions, financings, joint ventures and partnerships. Prior to his legal career, Mr. Pallot was a commercial banker with Southeast Bank, N.A., which is now part of Wachovia Corp. He is active in the community, including serving on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of The Beacon Council (Miami-Dade County, Florida's official economic development organization). His legal career has been recognized by several peer review publications, including The Best Lawyers in America. He also carries an "AV" rating from Martindale Hubbell.
Mr. Pallot, who assumes his role from Victor H. Mendelson, the President of the Company's Electronic Technologies Group and a Company Executive Vice President, will report to Mr. Mendelson. Mr. Mendelson commented, "HEICO's revenues are about 27 times more than when I assumed its legal counsel position 16 years ago and I felt that I needed to succeed my General Counsel functions to a qualified person in order to focus my time on HEICO's operations and continued growth." He added, "After a few years of looking, it became apparent that Joe was ideal for the position and we asked him to join us full time. While we will miss his involvement as a Director, we believe he will bring even more to us in his new role."
Joseph Pallot stated, "Although I will miss working with the partners, colleagues and clients of my law firm, I am honored to have the opportunity to work with the HEICO team. I had the privilege of serving as an independent member of the Company's Board for the past four years and, during that time, I learned first hand about the Company, the valuable people who work throughout the organization and HEICO's commitment to sound legal practices. I look forward to continuing to serve the Company and its shareholders in my new role."
The Company has two classes of common stock traded on the NYSE. Both classes, the Class A Common Stock (HEI.A) and the Common Stock (HEI), are virtually identical in all economic respects. The only difference between the share classes is the voting rights. The Class A Common Stock (HEI.A) receives 1/10 vote per share and the Common Stock (HEI) receives one vote per share. The stock symbols for HEICO's two classes of common stock on most web sites are HEI.A and HEI. However, some web sites change HEICO's Class A Common Stock stock symbol (HEI.A) to HEI/A or HEIa.
HEICO Corporation is engaged primarily in certain niche segments of the aviation, defense, space and electronics industries through its Hollywood, FL-based HEICO Aerospace Holdings Corp. subsidiary and its Miami, FL-based HEICO Electronic Technologies Corp. subsidiary. HEICO's customers include a majority of the world's airlines and airmotives as well as numerous defense and space contractors and military agencies worldwide in addition to medical, telecommunication and electronic equipment manufacturers. For more information about HEICO, please visit our web site at http://www.heico.com.