SOURCE: Florida Tile Inc.

 

LAKELAND, FL--(Marketwire - January 13, 2009) - The CEO of Panaria Group Giuliano Pini and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Florida Tile Emilio Mussini announced today an important organizational change aimed at better supporting the long-term strategy of the company. Florida Tile aims at becoming the most recognized and valuable brand in the ceramic tile and stone business both in trade and in retail, targeted at the traditional and aspirational mid/high-end customer segments of the US market.

In order to drive this strategy and enable the organization to execute its plans swiftly and effectively, effective today Luca Zerbini has been named Chief Executive Officer of Florida Tile. He will report to the Board of Directors.

Effective today (unless otherwise indicated), an Executive Committee will cooperate directly with the CEO:

--  Massimo Barbari has been confirmed as Executive VP of Sales &
    Marketing
--  Bernie Schwartz is confirmed as Executive VP Manufacturing
--  Luca Setti has been nominated Senior EVP Branch Sales & Organization
    and will stay as CFO ad interim until March 15th, 2009
--  Andrea Zanni has been nominated Chief Financial Officer, and will take
    full responsibility for this position on March 15th, 2009
    

The Executive Committee will be in charge of supporting decision making, executing Florida Tile's strategy and managing its day-to-day operations.

Massimo Barbari's team will continue focusing on Distributors Sales, Business Development, Marketing and New Product Development.

Bernie Schwartz will keep driving Manufacturing, Research and Development and the continuous investments of Panaria Group to expand Florida Tile production capabilities.

Luca Setti's team will concentrate on streamlining the Florida Tile Branch organization to make it even more successful.

Andrea Zanni will be in charge of all the financial and administrative activities of the company, having recently joined the company from a competitor.

The Founder and Chairman of Panaria Group Giuliano Mussini re-affirmed his trust in this management team and he extended his best wishes for the future development of the company. He also confirmed the Group's commitment to developing the American market as the centerpiece of its globalization strategy, investing in human resources as much as in physical assets.

Florida Tile is a leading ceramic tile manufacturer and distributor serving the premium segment of the US market. With its state-of-the-art production site, its national distribution center, 25 directly owned branches and a number of strong distribution partners, Florida Tile is one of the most important players in the American building materials industry. www.floridatile.com

Florida Tile is a fully owned subsidiary of Panaria Group, a public company on the Milan Stock Exchange (MILAN: PAN IM) and a leading manufacturer and distributor in over 60 countries around the world, through six manufacturing sites in Italy, Portugal and the USA and eight brands positioned in the high-end of the market. www.panariagroup.it