Led by CEO Paul Varga, Brown-Forman executives yesterday disclosed a slew of stock transactions in a series of notices with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Varga sold 11,566 Class A shares at $103.71 each for a total $1.2 million in what appears to be tax-driven trade, according to this SEC Form 4. All SEC filings. Class A shares recently traded for $102.13, down 1%.
Related: Varga’s annual compensation totaled $11 million in fiscal 2015, the most recent year available; Boulevard‘s executive pay database.
Latest news, with a special focus on big Louisville employers; updated at 3:19 p.m.
Gibbs
YUM just announced the promotion of David Gibbs, 53, to president and CFO, effective May 2. Gibbs, who’s been with the company 27 years, previously served as CEO of the Pizza Hut Division. He replaces interim CFO Dave Russell, who’ll return to Yum’s vice president, finance and corporate controller. (Press release.) A leadership shakeup at Yum has been in the cards for some time now (Business First). He arrives at a crucial time for the company (Nation’s Restaurant News). Former CFO Pat Grismer announced his resignation in December (Insider Louisville). Yum’s stock traded recently for $81.44, down less than 1%.
PAPA JOHN’S: In Georgia, a DeKalb County jury awarded $11 million to a woman claiming permanent brain damage from a crash with a pizza delivery vehicle on a rain-slicked road. The company’s lead attorney said the verdict would likely be appealed (Daily Report).
BROWN-FORMAN is getting back into the Scotch business after an 11-year absence with the $415.42 million purchase of the BenRiach Distillery in the north Scotland city of Newbridge. BenRiach’s brands include the Heart of Speyside. Today’s deal follows Brown-Forman’s sale of the Southern Comfort and Tuaca brands to Sazerac for $543.5 million three months ago (Reuters). Brown-Forman’s press release about the deal. Also, the company has named Eric Helms as new marketing director for its Global Travel Retail division (Travel Retail Business).
FORD: A threat to the Kentucky Truck Plant? Ford says it needs additional capacity for production of its next-generation Super Duty pickup (Courier-Journal).
TEXAS ROADHOUSE opened its newest location Monday, in Blackman Township, Mich (M Live).
In other news, Woodford Reserve followed an annual Kentucky Derby tradition and unveiled this year’s $1,000 Mint Julep yesterday (WLKY). The Al J. Schneider family drama over downtown’s Galt House grinds on in court (Insider Louisville). And on Wall Street, stocks were poised to tumble after Apple whiffed on earnings yesterday (MarketWatch).
HUMANA accidentally told 12,000 Texas customers it wouldn’t cover their medicines, including allergy treatments, because they weren’t FDA-approved (Business First).
BROWN-FORMAN is rolling out its first new bourbon in 20 years, a premium whiskey called Coopers’ Craft (WDRB). Watch video.
FORD‘s 2016 F-150 is the only full-size pickup truck to score the top rating in new front crash tests (WDRB). Ford’s stock.
In other news, coal giant Peabody Energy enters bankruptcy; pre-market shares plunge more than 70%. The Louisville Metro Planning Commission late last night OK’d Airbnb and other short-term residential rentals. (CJ).
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