By Kristin Jones
Ignite Restaurant Group Inc. (IRG) has named Michael J. Dixon as
its new finance chief, replacing Jeffery L. Lager, who is
resigning.
The parent of Joe's Crab Shack and Brick House Tavern + Tap
launched as a public company in May. In July, Ignite launched a
review of its accounting practices and said it would restate some
financial statements after it uncovered some noncash errors related
to its treatment of certain leases.
Mr. Dixon was most recently chief financial officer for
Pinkberry, which operates frozen yogurt shops. Before that, he was
finance chief at Cheesecake Factory Inc. (CAKE) from 2004 to 2008,
and also held executive roles at Petsmart Inc. (PETM) and Walt
Disney Co. (DIS).
He was also recently a member of the board at Brinker
International Inc. (EAT), operator of Chili's Grill & Bar and a
competitor of Ignite. He resigned from the Brinker board on
Wednesday.
"We are very pleased to add Michael to the Ignite team during an
exciting period of growth for our company," said Chief Executive
Raymond A. Blanchette III. "Michael's broad and extensive
experience in senior public company finance roles, his public
accounting experience, his business development acumen and deep
restaurant expertise make him an invaluable asset to our leadership
team."
Mr. Lager is departing to pursue other opportunities, the
company said.
Shares closed Wednesday at $12.31 and were unchanged after
hours. The stock is down 12% from its $14 initial public offering
price.
Write to Kristin Jones at kristin.jones@dowjones.com
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