Benzinga | Jan 24, 2022 08:03AM EST

Wrap Technologies Announces CEO Tom Smith To Step Down

Wrap Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:WRAP) ("Wrap" or the "Company"), a global leader in innovative public safety technologies and services, today announced a leadership transition plan to support the next phase of its corporate strategy, which is focused on diversifying the Company's suite of products, offerings and services. The plan provides for the following:

* Chief Executive Officer Tom Smith will be stepping down as part of a mutually agreed upon separation and Chief Financial Officer Jim Barnes will be retiring by the end of the year. Messrs. Smith and Barnes are not departing because of any disagreements or underlying business issues.

* The Company's day-to-day operations will be led by an interim management team that includes L. W. Varner, Jr., who will serve as Principal Executive Officer, Lawrence Hirsh, who will serve as Senior Advisor for financial matters, and Glenn Hickman, who is currently Chief Operating Officer and will remain in his role permanently. Mr. Barnes will remain in the role of Chief Financial Officer until his formal retirement.

* The interim management team will be supported and overseen by a Special Transition Committee of the Board of Directors (the "Board") that includes directors Scot Cohen and Kim Sentovich.

* The Board will run a formal process to identify highly-qualified candidates for the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer roles.

* The Board has appointed director Wayne Walker as its new Chairman, replacing Patrick Kinsella.

* Mr. Kinsella and Jeff Kukowski are stepping down from the Board, effective immediately.

Scot Cohen, founder, director and a large shareholder of Wrap, commented:

"The Board believes Wrap has significant opportunities to grow and scale as the addressable market for public safety technologies and services continues expanding. To capitalize on these opportunities, we need to build on Wrap's existing foundation by diversifying our mix of products, offerings and services beyond BolaWrap and Wrap Reality. We also need to be able to anticipate the evolving needs of law enforcement and security organizations around the world. This is why the Board has initiated this leadership transition and is running a search to identify executives with qualifications aligned to the next phase of our corporate strategy. We thank Tom, Jim, Pat and Jeff for their contributions in recent years."

Wrap plans to keep shareholders and stakeholders informed on the Company's transition plan progress in the weeks to come. Additionally, Wrap intends to share more details on the next phase of its corporate strategy once a permanent management team is in place.