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Law360 (March 23, 2020, 10:47 PM EDT) --
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| Michael K. Tucker |
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| Jean M. Sera |
Tucker, who has been with Parsippany, New Jersey-based Avis since April 2010, will leave the company on Friday and will be succeeded by the company's corporate secretary, Jean M. Sera, according to the company's 8-K form filed with the SEC.
Meanwhile, the rental car giant says it is beginning to take a substantial hit from the coronavirus pandemic, with reservations projected to plummet about 60 percent in April.
Before joining Avis, Tucker was in private practice as the managing partner of Tucker Associates, where he handled corporate, securities, finance and commercial transaction matters, according to his company bio. He also worked in the legal department for General Electric Co. and was general counsel for Tyco International, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Tucker earned his bachelor's degree from Cornell University and his law degree from Boston University, his bio said.
In a statement to Law360 on Tuesday, Avis said Tucker had a successful career and that they "mutually agreed that now was an appropriate time to transition."
The company said that Tucker will remain available to assist with the transition through the end of the year.
"The company thanks Mr. Tucker for his contributions during his tenure ... and wishes him well in his future endeavors," Avis said in the SEC filing.
Sera has been corporate secretary of Avis since January 2002, according to her LinkedIn page, and before that she was an associate at Shearman & Sterling LLP.
A representative for Tucker, Sera and Avis did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
In another SEC filing on Monday, Avis announced it was seeing significant impacts on its business as a result of the COVID-19 virus.
In January and February, the company said it saw a 9% revenue increase. But in March, reservations and revenue began to drop as travel restrictions were broadly implemented, it said.
The outlook for April is "challenged," the company said, with reservations down about 60% with the potential for further declines.
"Our team is united in facing the current unprecedented health crisis, and we are committed to taking the necessary steps to protect the health and safety of our customers [and] our employees, and to navigate through this disruptive global event," the company said in a press release Monday.
To address declining reservations and revenue, the company said it is aggressively reducing the number of vehicles, matching staffing levels to current demand, reducing operational costs and pausing capital spending. The company said it was targeting more than $400 million in annualized cost reduction and mitigation.
"We have taken aggressive steps to reduce our fleet, control costs, and maximize liquidity in these unprecedented times," Americas for Avis President Joe Ferraro said in a statement Monday. "We are incredibly proud of our people and the way they have responded to, and recovered from, many challenges including 9/11 and the recession of 2008."
"Our team will work to be stronger and more nimble to ensure we emerge from this event with confidence and resilience," he said.
--Editing by Bruce Goldman.
Update: This story has been updated with comment from Avis.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
