Lawrence S. Benjamin

Lawrence Benjamin (November 6, 1955)

Lawrence Benjamin joined New Mountain Capital as a Senior Advisor "in 2011. Mr. Benjamin has over 25 years of experience leading business turnarounds in the food industry. From 2003 until his retirement in February 2011, he served in several executive positions at Royal Ahold, the Dutch-based global food retailer, including Chief Executive Officer of U.S. Foodservice, Chief Operating Officer of Ahold's U.S. retail businesses, Executive Vice President of Royal Ahold and a member of the company's board. Previously, he was Chief Executive Officer of several private equity owned food companies including The NutraSweet Company, Specialty Foods and Stella Foods. Prior to that, he held a number of management positions at Kraft, most recently as President of the Birds Eye/Budget Gourmet division. He is currently a Managing Director of Capwell Partners, an investment advisory firm focused on the health and wellness categories.

"Mr. Benjamin is on the Board of Directors of Liz Claiborne (NYSE: LIZ), Symphony IRI (where he serves as Chairman), the Food Marketing Institute Foundation and Lake Forest Academy. He received an MBA from Columbia University, a BA from Brown University and is currently enrolled in the Masters of Public Health Program at the Stritch School of Medicine (Loyola University Chicago)."

"Lawrence was appointed Chief Operating Officer Ahold USA on November 6, 2006. He joined Ahold in October 2003 as President and Chief Executive Officer of U.S. Foodservice. From 2002 to October 2003 he was Chief Executive Officer of the NutraSweet Company in Chicago, Illinois. Prior to joining NutraSweet, Lawrence worked with the private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Management and served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Stella Foods and Specialty Foods Corporation. He also held a number of management-level positions in the retail and ingredient divisions of Kraft Foods from 1986 to 1994."