Exhibit 99.1
|
|
|
|
|
For release:
June 9, 2009, 9:00 p.m. EDT
|
|
Contact:
Mark J. Rittenbaum
|
|
|
|
503-684-7000
|
Greenbrier elects Victoria McManus to Board of Directors
Lake Oswego, Oregon, June 9 , 2009
— The Greenbrier Companies (NYSE: GBX) announced today the
election of Victoria McManus to the Company’s Board of Directors. The election of Ms. McManus
increases Greenbrier’s Board of Directors to nine members, six of which are independent.
Ms. McManus’ credentials include over twenty years experience in the finance industry, with
emphasis on the rail equipment sector.
Ms. McManus, a long time resident of New York City, was head of Babcock & Brown’s North
American Rail Group, from its founding in 1999 until mid-2008. During this tenure, the Rail Group
raised significant capital from the European and Asian markets for investment in rail assets placed
under operating leases, and became a major participant in the rail equipment marketplace. Before
joining Babcock & Brown, Ms. McManus was an executive with The CIT Group for ten years. Her last
position at CIT was President of the Rail Division, where she changed the strategic direction of
the business to a full service platform to provide both financial and equipment leasing services to
the rail freight industry.
“We are delighted to have Victoria McManus join Greenbrier’s Board,” said William A. Furman,
president and chief executive officer of Greenbrier. “Victoria is a well-known innovator in our
industry, with whom we have created much value for our industry and respective shareholders over
the years. Her expertise and leadership in our sector, with particular emphasis on leasing and
access to capital, will be extremely helpful to the Company.”
Greenbrier (www.gbrx.com), headquartered in Lake Oswego, Oregon, is a leading supplier of
transportation equipment and services to the railroad industry. The Company builds new railroad
freight cars in its three manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and Mexico and marine barges at its
U.S. facility. It also repairs and refurbishes freight cars and provides wheels and railcar parts
at 38 locations across North America. Greenbrier builds new railroad freight cars and refurbishes
freight cars for the European market through both its operations in Poland and various
subcontractor facilities throughout Europe. Greenbrier owns approximately 9,000 railcars, and
performs management services for approximately 217,000 railcars.
- More -
|
|
|
|
|
Greenbrier elects Victoria McManus to Board of Directors
(Cont.)
|
|
Page 2
|
“SAFE HARBOR” STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995: This
release may contain forward-looking statements. Greenbrier uses words such as “anticipate,”
“believe,” “plan,” “expect,” “future,” “intend” and similar expressions to identify forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking
statements. Factors that might cause such a difference include, but are not limited to, turmoil in
the credit markets and financial services industry; high levels of indebtedness and compliance with
the terms of our indebtedness; write-downs of goodwill in future periods; sufficient availability
of borrowing capacity; fluctuations in demand for newly manufactured railcars or failure to obtain
orders as anticipated in developing forecasts; loss of one or more significant customers; customer
payment defaults or related issues; actual future costs and the availability of materials and a
trained workforce; failure to design or manufacture new products or technologies or to achieve
certification or market acceptance of new products or technologies; steel price fluctuations and
scrap surcharges; changes in product mix and the mix between segments; labor disputes, energy
shortages or operating difficulties that might disrupt manufacturing operations or the flow of
cargo; production difficulties and product delivery delays as a result of, among other matters,
changing technologies or non-performance of subcontractors or suppliers; ability to obtain suitable
contracts for the sale of leased equipment and risks related to car hire and residual values;
difficulties associated with governmental regulation, including environmental liabilities;
integration of current or future acquisitions; succession planning; all as may be discussed in more
detail under the headings “Risk Factors” on page 11 of Part I , Item 1a and “Forward Looking
Statements” on page 3 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2008.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which
reflect management’s opinions only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to revise or
publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements.
# # #
