Alan Offenberg named permanent CEO of American Furniture parent

Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, December 3, 2012

WESTPORT, Conn. — Compass Diversified Holdings, parent company of promotional upholstery producer American Furniture, has given interim CEO Alan Offenberg the job on a permanent basis.

Offenberg had been interim CEO since Feb. 17, 2011, when former CEO Joseph Massoud began a leave of absence.

The company said Massoud has resigned as CEO and also has given up his seat on the board of directors.

Offenberg is a founding partner of Compass Group Management and has been with the group and its predecessor since 1998.

"During his tenure, Alan has demonstrated strong leadership, as the company has continued to successfully execute its strategy," said Sean Day, chairman of Compass Diversified Holdings. "With disciplined investing and a strong balance sheet, (the company) remains well positioned to capitalize on favorable growth opportunities to enhance future performance and provide shareholders with attractive distributions."

Massoud's resignation came as the Securities and Exchange Commission announced he had agreed to pay more than $1.4 million to settle insider trading charges. As part of the settlement, Massoud cannot work in the securities industry and cannot serve as an officer or director of a public company, the SEC said.

According to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Connecticut, the insider trading scheme occurred in 2009 when Compass Group was among the bidders for the publicly traded investment firm Patriot Capital Funding Group.

Compass had signed a confidentiality agreement that prohibited its employees from buying Patriot stock, but the SEC said Massoud bought 322,216 shares over a two-month period before Patriot announced it was merging with another bidder. He sold the stock about three weeks after the merger was announced and the stock price had more than doubled.

According to the SEC, Massoud agreed to disgorge $676,013 in profits, pay a penalty of $676,013, as well as $80,785 in prejudgment interest.

The SEC said the settlement is subject to court approval.