Tower Automotive has tapped a long-time Ford Motor financial executive to lead it out of bankruptcy. The auto-parts company, which earlier this week closed its sale to buyout giant Cerberus Capital Management, named Mark Malcolm as its new president and chief executive officer, effective immediately. Malcolm succeeds Kathleen Ligocki, who is leaving the company.
For the past 18 months, Malcolm has been the lead automotive consultant at Cerberus, where he has worked on the Tower deal for about a year. Prior to joining Cerberus, Malcolm spent 28 years with Ford in a variety of senior financial positions.
In his most recent assignment with Ford, he served as executive vice president and controller of Ford Motor Credit. From 2002 to 2004, he was director of finance and strategy for Ford Global Purchasing. Prior to that, he was director of worldwide accounting for Ford, CFO of Visteon, and head of finance for Ford’s Vehicle Operations, including its stamping business.
Tower filed for Chapter 11 protection on February 2, 2005, citing lower production volumes, rising steel prices, and a complex and unsustainable debt load. To strengthen its financial position, the company closed or sold 16 manufacturing plants and consolidated production into existing facilities to improve productivity. It also negotiated settlements with its U.S.-based labor unions, sold noncore businesses, and broadened its customer base with international automakers.
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