F9 Brands, Inc., which owns and manages a portfolio of companies in the building products, home improvement and luxury home décor industries, including Southwind Building Products, announced that, effective immediately, Southwind would operate independently of the other F9 portfolio companies.

In conjunction with this reorganization, Drew Hash, president of Southwind, has been promoted to CEO and president of Southwind, effective June 1, 2023.

Jason Delves, who will step down from his role as CEO at Southwind, will continue as CEO of F9 Brands and will focus his attention on the growth of the F9 Brands retail portfolio.

While Southwind has a business-to-business model for distribution, F9 Brands' other divisions have a business-to-consumer business model and include Thomas Baker, Gracious Home, and Cabinets to Go.

Southwind reports it been on a successful journey of transformation to enhance performance and provide new offerings to their respective customers. This announcement will enable Southwind to continue to expand its portfolio of offerings to customers with new and exciting products and align capital allocation and capital structures with long-term growth targets and underlying market needs.

In a statement, the company said it believes it is the right time to separate the operation and management of these businesses so Southwind may pursue its particular strategic priorities.

“Southwind is ideally positioned to help each of our customers grow with a strong portfolio of products that meet the individual needs of each of our customers, allowing them to compete strategically in the marketplace," Hash said. "I am excited about this new opportunity and look forward to this next phase of Southwind’s journey.”

"I wish I had a great crystal ball, but all the macro data and recent earnings reports from Q1 from Lowe’s, THD and others would say the balance of the year will be challenging especially in specialty retail (which is our core business," Hash said. "That said, we continue to focus on creating value for our customers with new and unique products and superior service. If we do what we are supposed to do for them, we will get our fair share of their spend."

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