Barington Capital Group Nominates Directors For Election To The Board Of Directors Of OMNOVA Solutions Inc.

NEW YORK, Dec. 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Barington Capital Group, L.P. announced today that one of its affiliates has notified OMNOVA Solutions Inc. (NYSE: OMN) ("OMNOVA" or the "Company") of its intention to nominate three persons for election to the Board of Directors of OMNOVA at the Company's 2015 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.

Barington has been disappointed with OMNOVA's share price performance, which has underperformed its peers and the market as a whole over the past 14 years.  As a result, Barington has nominated a slate of three highly qualified individuals to assist the Company in improving long-term shareholder value.  If elected, these directors will seek to work constructively with OMNOVA's other directors to improve, among other things, the Company's profitability, strategic focus, organic growth, corporate governance and executive compensation practices.  

The Barington nominees are:

Joseph M. Gingo – Mr. Gingo, 69, has served as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of A. Schulman, Inc., an international supplier of plastic compounds and resins, since 2008.  Mr. Gingo has announced his retirement as an executive officer of A. Schulman effective December 31, 2014, and the A. Schulman Board of Directors has announced its intention to reappoint Mr. Gingo as Chairman pending his reelection to the Board.  Under Mr. Gingo's leadership, A. Schulman has achieved numerous accomplishments.  These include growing the company's earnings per share (EPS) by a 15.3% compound annual growth rate from $0.87/share in Fiscal 2007 to $2.36/share in Fiscal 2014, as well as completing ten acquisitions and two joint ventures that have enabled the company to focus on higher margin products and establish itself as a leading international supplier of high-performance plastic compounds and resins.  Prior to working at A. Schulman, Mr. Gingo was employed at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company for more than 40 years, where he last served as Executive Vice President, Quality Systems and Chief Technical Officer.  In this role, he was responsible for Goodyear's Research, Tire Technology and Engineering and Quality organizations.  He was also responsible for new product introductions and continuous improvement activities globally.  Mr. Gingo has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Case Institute of Technology (now Case Western Reserve University), a J.D. from the University of Akron and an M.B.A from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Javier Perez – Mr. Perez, 58, is a former partner at McKinsey & Company ("McKinsey"), a management consulting firm, where he worked for over 14 years.  His consulting experience with McKinsey included developing business strategies for chemical companies such as Hoechst Celanese, Norton Chemical Process Products, Hanwha Chemical and Pequiven.  He has also held senior strategy positions at The Estee Lauder Companies and The McGraw-Hill Companies, and began his career as a project manager at Chevron Corporation, a diversified energy company.  Mr. Perez, who is an advisor to Barington, is a former director of Gerber Scientific, Inc., a diversified manufacturing company, where he was instrumental in establishing Gerber's portfolio restructuring strategy.  Mr. Perez has a B.S. with honors in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University, a M.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of California, Berkeley, and an M.B.A. with honors in International Business from Columbia University.

James A. Mitarotonda – Mr. Mitarotonda, 60, is the Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Barington Capital Group, L.P.  Mr. Mitarotonda has extensive experience assisting public companies improve their financial and share price performance, corporate governance and executive compensation practices.  He is currently a director of The Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack and A. Schulman, Inc.  He has also served as a director of The Jones Group, Ameron International, Griffon Corporation, Gerber Scientific, Register.com, Inc. and Sielox, Inc.  Mr. Mitarotonda has a B.A. in Economics from Queens College, where he is currently a member of the Board of Trustees, and an M.B.A. from New York University's Graduate School of Business Administration (now known as the Stern School of Business).

About Barington Capital Group:

Barington Capital Group, L.P. is an investment firm that, through its affiliates, primarily invests in undervalued, small and mid-capitalization companies.  Barington and its principals are experienced value-added investors who have taken active roles in assisting public companies in improving shareholder value.  Barington has substantial experience investing in industrial and specialty chemicals companies, including Ameron International, Stewart & Stevenson, Griffon Corporation, Gerber Scientific, The Eastern Company, Spartech Corporation and A. Schulman, Inc.  Barington represents a group of shareholders that collectively owns over 2% of the outstanding shares of common stock of OMNOVA Solutions Inc.  

CONTACT:
Jared L. Landaw
Chief Operating Officer
Barington Capital Group, L.P.
(212) 974-5713

Dan Burch/Bob Marese
MacKenzie Partners, Inc.
(800) 322-2885

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SOURCE Barington Capital Group, L.P.