Gulf Island Announces Planned Retirement of Chairman, Further Reduction in Board Size and Proposal to Declassify Board

HOUSTON, March 16, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Island Fabrication, Inc. (“Gulf Island” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: GIFI) today announced that its Chairman of the Board of Directors (the “Board”), John “Jack” P. Laborde, will retire effective upon the expiration of his current director term in connection with the Company’s 2020 annual meeting of shareholders (the “2020 annual meeting”). With Mr. Laborde’s retirement and the anticipated expiration of the terms of two additional directors in connection with the 2020 annual meeting, the Board will be reduced to seven members upon conclusion of the 2020 annual meeting.

Mr. Laborde has served as a director of the Company for over 20 years and as Chairman of the Board since 2013. He also has served as a member of the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee, and Corporate Governance & Nominating Committee.

The Board unanimously elected Michael A. Flick as Chairman of the Board to succeed Mr. Laborde upon the conclusion of the 2020 annual meeting. Mr. Flick has been a Board member since 2007 and during his tenure has served, at various times, as the chairman of its Corporate Governance & Nominating Committee and Compensation Committee. 

“On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Jack for his tireless commitment to the Company for over two decades. Jack’s leadership, industry knowledge and guidance have been invaluable to Gulf Island and we have benefited from his service to the Company and our stakeholders,” said Richard Heo, Gulf Island’s President and CEO. “We wish him the very best in the years ahead.”

“It has been my privilege to serve Gulf Island as a director since 1997 and I am very proud to have been part of its history,” said Jack Laborde. “I am also thankful for the experience of serving with my colleagues on the Board, whom I greatly admire and respect. I have tremendous confidence in Richard, Mike, the Board and the Company’s leadership team, and I am confident that Gulf Island’s best days are yet to come.”

The Board also unanimously approved a proposal to amend the Company’s articles of incorporation to de-classify the Board that will be presented at the 2020 annual meeting. The Board currently has three classes, with members of each class being elected to three-year terms. The amendment to the articles of incorporation will provide that directors will be nominated for election for one-year terms beginning with the class of directors up for election at the 2020 annual meeting and, thereafter, as the term of each successor class expires. This phase-in approach allows each class of directors to complete the term for which they were previously elected by the shareholders. If the proposed amendment is approved by the shareholders, the Board will be fully de-classified, with all directors standing for annual election at the 2022 annual meeting of shareholders.