MEMPHIS, Tenn.—Del-Nat Tire Corp. has parted ways with President Jim Mayfield and Vice President Lyle Symonds and named Brian Grant, a restructuring expert with Conway MacKenzie Inc., as interim CEO.
The Memphis-based private brander and wholesale distributor told its shareholders in an email dated June 12 that the board of directors “has decided that a change of direction is needed.”
No other information was disclosed. The email said: “All Del-Nat senior mangement will be reporting to Brian.” According to his bio, Mr. Grant “provides restructuring and business assistance to troubled companies and their creditors on financial, operational, and strategic issues.
Mr. Grant has served clients in the context of Chapter 11 and Chapter 7 bankruptcies, out-of-court restructurings, loan workout situations and various types of transactions including acquisitions, divestitures, and liquidations.”
He also has been an expert witness on numerous occasions in bankruptcy court in the context of corporate restructurings and often speaks at events and conferences on general corporate renewal matters, as well as real estate restructurings, Conway MacKenzie said.
Attempts by Tire Business to reach Mr. Grant by presstime were not successful. Birmingham, Mich.-based Conway MacKenzie describes itself as a “consulting and financial advisory firm to the middle market.” Mr. Mayfield had been a Del-Nat executive twice in his career.
He was named president in 2009 after spending three years with Yokohama Tire Corp. from 2006-09 as director of business development. Prior to that he was vice president of marketing from 2004-2006 for Del-Nat, and before that he spent more than 20 years at Continental Tire North America Inc. and Michelin North America Inc. in capacities ranging from sales training, commercial fleet management, OE sales and marketing; mass retail sales and product management; and corporate marketing and brand management.
Mr. Symonds joined Del-Nat five months ago as vice president of marketing, moving to Del-Nat from Carroll Tire in Lansdale, Pa., where he was president for five years, running 44 wholesale warehouses across the country. Prior to that he was president of Treadways Corp. and held several positions with Continental Tire the Americas L.L.C.