acorn international – Robert Roche

Acorn International Welcomes New Director

Acorn International, Inc.’s board of directors proudly announced the appointment of the new Director of the Company, Ms. Jenny Hseau-Jean Wang.

Acorn International, Inc.’s board of directors proudly announced the appointment of the new Director of the Company, Ms. Jenny Hseau-Jean Wang. Ms. Wang was also appointed as chair of the Audit Committee and will serve on the Compensation Committee and Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee of Acorn.

“We are pleased to enhance our board with the addition of Ms. Wang, a proven business leader and finance professional at large multinational companies operating in Asia. Her experience in business and corporate governance best practices will be invaluable to Acorn as we move forward with our plans to rebuild our business,” said Acorn International’s Executive Chairman.

Ms. Wang has a Bachelor’s degree in Business from Taiwan Providence University, a Master of Science in Accounting from the University of Houston and is a Certified Public Accountant in the United States.

Professionally, Ms. Wang adds over 30 years of experience in executive management, finance and business strategy for the Asia Pacific operations of several high-profile multinational organizations to the Acorn team. Ms. Wang has worked with companies such as Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Company, Motorola’s Asia and Arthur Andersen. She has held several positions with the aforementioned companies ranging from Vice President to Tax Manager.

Acorn International Reports Results for the First Half of 2017

Acorn International, Inc. announced its unaudited financial results for the second quarter through a conference call lead by Acorn International’s Jacob A. Fisch.

Acorn International, Inc. announced its unaudited financial results for the second quarter ending June 30, 2017. The results were discussed through a conference call lead by Acorn International’s Jacob A. Fisch.

In the second quarter, Acorn continued to focus on its business turnaround strategy, delivering double-digit revenue growth, higher gross margins and a reduction in loss from operations due to management’s narrowed focus on core business and top performing brands.

Acorn International’s Management believes the performance of its core business improved substantially in the first and second quarters. Their medium-term goal is to achieve operating profitability to position the business for long-term, sustainable success. Management remains focused on maintaining healthy margins, managing expenses and generating additional cash flow.

In the first half of 2017, the Company reduced its stake in Yimeng Software Technology Co., Ltd., a publicly traded company in China, earning a pre-tax gain of approximately $9.1 million. Comparatively, in the first half of 2016, the Company recorded a pre-tax gain on the sale of Yimeng shares of $18.1 million and a $6.0 million pretax gain on the sale of non-core real estate.

Acorn intends to pursue increased revenue for the remainder of 2017 by growing sales of its proprietary-branded products as well as third-party branded products. The Company is placing an increased emphasis on its e-commerce channel and expects sales from this platform to play a bigger role in the business going forward.

Acorn International Sells Majority Stake in HJX Business

Acorn International reaches an agreement to sell majority stake in HJX business.

Acorn International, Inc. recently announced that they’ve reached an agreement to sell a majority stake in its HJX business which engages in direct sales of Ozing branded electronic learning devices. The agreement includes the formation of a joint venture. The third-party investor and operator responsible for purchasing the majority stake will consequently control and operate the joint venture.

Acorn International’s Executive Chairman Mr. Robert Roche noted, “The agreement with HJX represents a positive move for Acorn as we realign our strategy and focus our attention on the markets that will drive profitable growth.”

The joint venture is expected to be operational in the coming months helping to liquidate a large stock of HJX inventory and transition select expenses on a pro rata basis to the joint venture. Acorn has decided to move forward with the partial divestiture of HJX in an attempt to relinquish its daily management. This will increase Acorn’s focus on its already profitable businesses and brands, and will also increase the profitable growth of new business ventures.

“This joint venture marks one of our final key steps in turning around and restructuring the business away from loss-making legacy businesses to focus more closely on our brands and business areas that support our mandate for profitable growth,” Mr. Jacob Fisch, Acorn’s President concluded.

Acorn International Reaches Settlement Agreement

Acorn International announced that it has reached a settlement agreement relating to a claim filed against three former Board of Directors members.

Acorn International announced today that it entered a Settlement Agreement on July 28, 2017, relating to a December 2016 claim filed against three former members of the company’s Board of Directors. The claim was filed on December 1, 2016, in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands in response to alleged breaches of fiduciary duties, misconduct and/or mismanagement by the former directors.

The initial filing involved a previously disclosed dispute between two groups of company shareholders. This dispute resulted in the improper removal of Robert Roche as Executive Chairman of Acorn International by members of the company’s previous Board of Directors. The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands ruled that the former directors had breached their fiduciary duties to Acorn International by removing Mr. Roche as Executive Chairman, and were liable to the company for any loss and damage caused as a consequence of these actions.

In accordance with the Settlement Agreement, all parties involved agreed to drop any claims, counterclaims or other proceedings related to the previous disputes. Acorn International’s audit committee reviewed and approved the Settlement Agreement. It was later approved by the company’s current Board of Directors.

Acorn’s President, Jacob Fisch called the agreement a “highly symbolic” moment for the company.

“In addition to being a good deal for our company, this is a highly symbolic moment for Acorn where, after years of difficulty, we are now able to truly put the troubles of our past behind us and be 100% forward-looking as we grow our business into the future, ” Fisch stated in a press release.

Robert Roche, Executive Chairman of Acorn International, stated: “We are pleased with this outcome and are excited that we can now focus our efforts on enhancing and growing the business.”

Acorn International Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Initial Public Offering: Founder Robert Roche Recognizes Milestone for the Company

Acorn International Founder, Robert Roche reflects on the companies milestones on its 10th anniversary of their initial IPO.

Acorn International celebrated the 10th anniversary of the company’s initial public offering (IPO) earlier this week. On May 3, 2007, the company made its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) for more than 8,855,000 American Depositary Shares (ADSs). Acorn went on to gain 39% from the IPO price of $15.50 ADS during its first day of trading. The deal generated net proceeds of more than $108.9 million for the company, with Deutsch Bank Securities and Merrill Lynch Co. acting as joint book runners for the offering.

Robert Roche, Acorn International’s founder, chief executive officer and executive chairman, recognized that this anniversary was a major milestone for the company. “I am proud of the resiliency Acorn has shown in the face of major headwinds during our first decade as a public company,” Roche stated in a press release. “Offering some of China’s best known and trusted products, Acorn is committed to supporting our own brands and building a reputation as a trusted partner for top foreign brands entering China.”

Acorn International is one of China’s leading marketing and branding companies. It has grown a reputation for developing and marketing some of China’s most popular consumer-branded products since it was co-founded by Robert Roche in 1998. Acorn is organized into two main divisions, a direct-sales platform and a nationwide distribution network. Acorn’s direct-sales business markets and sells products directly to consumers through the company’s outbound marketing platform, as well as through an online sales platform. The company’s distribution network distributes these products throughout all provinces in China, reaching more than 2,200 retail outlets across the country.

Since its inception, the company has also developed proprietary-branded product lines such as the Ozing line of electronic learning products and Babaka posture-correction products. Acorn has also developed several proprietary kitchen and household products that are now sold throughout China.

Robert Roche founded and has managed Acorn International with the goal of taking the world’s best products, designs and management practices and offering them to Chinese consumers. He has led the company through a number of business challenges, recently leading a business turnaround in 2016 which resulted in the first net profit for the company since 2011.