Korn/Ferry appoints three directors
Their appointment coincides with a decision by Richard Ferry, 64, co-founder of the firm, to step down from the board.
Korn/Ferry said the appointment of Edward Miller, Spencer Fleischer and David Lowe to the board of directors brought the total of independent directors to nine out of the 12 members.
Miller is a senior adviser to the chief executive of the AXA group, and was president and CEO of Axa Financial from 1997 to 2001. Earlier he spent 35 years in banking, including being president of Chemical Bank.
Fleischer and Lowe are vice-chairmen of Friedman Fleischer & Lowe (FFL), a San Francisco-based private equity firm with which Korn/Ferry recently completed a $50m private placing, partly to repay debts owed by Korn/Ferry.
Lowe said: "As shareholders and members of the board, we look forward to adding value for customers, employees and shareholders."
Fleischer earlier spent 19 years with Morgan Stanley, where he held a number of positions including head of investment banking in Asia and head of corporate finance for Europe.
Korn/Ferry's share price has suffered in weak recruitment markets, fluctuating from a 52-week high of $16.45 in July 2001, to a low of $5.80 in February this year. On July 2, 2002, it was hovering around $8.10 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Ferry will continue to work with the search firm's clients. He said: "We should abide by the counsel we provide our clients, which is to have strong outside board members to allow for a clean, seamless transition to a new generation of management."
