Troubled Atlas Cold Storage names new president

TORONTO, (April 19, 2004) — After six months of financial disarray, Atlas Cold Storage Income Trust has named former insurance and industrial executive David Williamson its new president and CEO in an attempt to clean up accounting troubles that nearly brought the company down last fall.

Williamson was recently senior vice-president for strategic planning and business development at Canada Life Assurance Co. and, before that, executive vice-president and chief financial officer of Clarica, a southwestern Ontario insurer acquired by Sun Life Financial.

The company — which operated North America’s second-largest network of temperature-controlled warehouses, as well as trucking assets that supply food distributors and grocery chains — has been tuned upside down by a series of troubles since it announced last fall it would have to restate 2002 and 2001 financial statements after an internal investigation found irregularities. In November former chief executive Patrick Gouveia left the company after an investigation found improper accounting practices.

Soon after, the company announced it would discontinue its Canadian trucking operations. It cited that its main troubles were in Western Canada, particularly at TCT Logistics, which sold all its refrigerated trucking assets to Atlas after it went into receivership in January of 2002.