INDIANAPOLIS – Allison Transmission Holdings Inc. today announced that its Chairman, President and CEO Lawrence Dewey has been selected by The Carlyle Group as the 2014 recipient of the Louis V. Gerstner Jr. Excellence Award.
Created in 2008, the award is presented to a Carlyle portfolio company CEO who has demonstrated the most effective leadership performance over the past year. The award is not determined solely by statistical results, but also by the perceived difficulty of the task and the quality of its execution in taking a company to higher levels of performance. It honors the legacy of Louis V. Gerstner Jr., former chairman and CEO of IBM, and former chairman and current operating executive at Carlyle.
"I am equally honored and humbled to be selected as the recipient of this prestigious award," said Dewey. "Carlyle’s portfolio includes a plethora of outstanding CEOs. This recognition is a tribute to the excellent performance achieved through the dedicated commitment and hard work of the talented employees at Allison."
"This was the best CEO leadership performance I’ve witnessed in my 26-year career at Carlyle," said Greg Ledford, managing director and head of Carlyle’s Industrial & Transportation team. "Larry Dewey is first and foremost a leader. His strategic vision, relentless work ethic and willingness to make difficult but necessary decisions have elevated the company to become, without exaggeration, one of the very best industrial companies in the world."
In addition to his leadership over the past year, Carlyle also noted Dewey’s most significant accomplishments during their years of ownership, including:
* Negotiated a fair and favorable standalone labor agreement with the UAW and has established a harmonious ongoing working relationship.
* Expanded the product line with more successful investments in new technology in the past seven years than accomplished in the previous 40 years.
* Expanded into new markets, both domestically and globally, including the firm’s first Asian manufacturing facility.
* Lead the company through the Great Recession, strengthening it in the process.
Carlyle partnered with Onex Corp. to purchase Allison from General Motors in August 2007. Both Carlyle and Onex recently sold their remaining shares in the company.
"I am grateful to Carlyle, together with co-sponsor Onex, for providing tremendous support and guidance over the past seven years," said Dewey. "We are a better business, with better prospects for the future as a result of their contributions."
