The Ginn Company has a New President

Experienced real estate investment manager is new President of The Ginn Company

July 17, 2007 – Palm Coast, Florida – Robert H. Gidel, formerly a Managing Director of Liberty Partners, LP, has joined The Ginn Company as President. Bobby Ginn will continue his role as Chairman and CEO. An internal announcement is being developed and a formal press release is forthcoming. Mr. Gidel is already residing in Orlando.

I spoke today with Bobby Masters, Executive Vice President of The Ginn Company and with Ginn spokesperson, Ryan Julison. They described how the company has been looking for nearly five years for the right person to take over much of the day-to-day operations of the company, to free up Bobby Ginn to do the things he has done so well. Gidel will watch over things like operations, financial systems, human resources, while Bobby will continue to be the face of the company, the visionary, the marketer, the energizer.

This strategic move comes at a time when Ginn, along with everyone else, faces the challenge of a depressed real estate market. Add to that, the recent filing in Michigan of a class action law suit alleging real estate fraud, which Ginn strongly refutes, and the recently publicized problems with Ginn’s NASCAR venture. The racing team has not met its goals signing up sponsors for two of its cars. It recently reorganized and several people were let go. Importantly, the NASCAR team is owned by Ginn personally, and, other than the promotional value and name recognition, is not part of The Ginn Company. However, it’s logical to assume it has detracted Bobby from his real estate business.

Robert Gidel has about as strong a pedigree as one could imagine. In addition to his position with Liberty Partners, he is also a member of the board of directors of Global Signal Inc., a REIT, of which he is a member of the governance committee and the compensation committee. He is also a trustee of Fortress Registered Investment Trust and a director of Fortress Investment Fund II, LLC, both of which are registered investment companies. Since 1996, Mr. Gidel has been the independent member of the investment committee of the Lone Star Fund (I, II, III, IV, & V). This committee approves but does not generate all investments made by the Lone Star Opportunity Funds. He is a graduate of the Warrington College of Business at the University of Florida.