def14a
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
SCHEDULE 14A INFORMATION
Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (Amendment No. )
Filed by the Registrant þ
Filed by a Party other than the Registrant o
Check the appropriate box:
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Preliminary Proxy Statement |
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Confidential, for Use of the Commission Only (as permitted by Rule 14a-6(e)(2)) |
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Definitive Proxy Statement |
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Definitive Additional Materials |
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Soliciting Material Pursuant to §240.14a-12 |
U.S. Concrete, Inc.
(Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)
(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if other than the Registrant)
Payment of Filing Fee (Check the appropriate box):
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No fee required. |
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Fee computed on table below per Exchange Act Rules 14a-6(i)(4) and 0-11. |
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Per unit price or other underlying value of transaction computed pursuant to Exchange Act
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Fee paid previously with preliminary materials. |
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Check box if any part of the fee is offset as provided by Exchange Act Rule 0-11(a)(2)
and identify the filing for which the offsetting fee was paid previously. Identify the
previous filing by registration statement number, or the Form or Schedule and the date of its
filing. |
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Amount Previously Paid: |
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Form, Schedule or Registration Statement No.: |
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Filing Party: |
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SEC 1913 (02-02) |
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Persons who are to respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB control number.
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April 26, 2007
Dear Stockholder:
On behalf of the Board of Directors, we invite you to attend the 2007 Annual Meeting of
Stockholders of U.S. Concrete, Inc. We will hold the meeting at 8:00 a.m., Central Time, on
Thursday, May 24, 2007, at the Houston Marriott Westchase, 2900 Briarpark Drive, Houston, Texas
77042.
On the following pages you will find the Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders and Proxy
Statement providing information concerning the matters to be acted on at the meeting. Our Annual
Report to Stockholders describing U.S. Concretes operations during the year ended December 31,
2006 is enclosed.
We hope you will be able to attend the meeting in person. Whether or not you plan to attend,
please take the time to vote by completing and returning your proxy card in the enclosed envelope
before the meeting. If you attend the meeting, you may, if you wish, revoke your proxy and vote in
person.
Thank you for your interest in U.S. Concrete.
Sincerely,
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/s/ Vincent D. Foster
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/s/ Eugene P. Martineau |
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Vincent D. Foster
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Eugene P. Martineau |
Chairman of the Board
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President and Chief Executive Officer |
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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U.S. CONCRETE, INC.
2925 Briarpark Drive, Suite 1050, Houston, Texas 77042
NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS
To Be Held On Thursday, May 24, 2007
To the Stockholders of U.S. Concrete, Inc.:
The Annual Meeting of Stockholders of U.S. Concrete, Inc. will be held on Thursday, May 24,
2007, at 8:00 a.m., Central Time, at the Houston Marriott Westchase, 2900 Briarpark Drive, Houston,
Texas 77042. At the meeting, we will ask you to consider and take action on the following:
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elect seven directors to serve until the 2008 annual meeting of stockholders
(Proposal No. 1); |
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ratify the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the independent
registered public accounting firm of U.S. Concrete for the year ending December 31,
2007 (Proposal No. 2); and |
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transact any other business that may properly come before the annual meeting or
any adjournment or postponement of the meeting. |
We are sending this notice and the attached proxy statement to our stockholders on or about
April 26, 2007. Our Board of Directors has set the close of business on April 12, 2007 as the
record date for determining stockholders entitled to receive notice of and to vote at the annual
meeting. A list of all stockholders entitled to vote is available for inspection during normal
business hours at our principal offices at 2925 Briarpark Drive, Suite 1050, Houston, Texas 77042.
This list also will be available at the meeting.
Your vote is very important. Whether or not you plan to attend the annual meeting, we
encourage you to read the proxy statement. Further, to be sure your vote counts and to ensure a
quorum, please vote, sign, date and return the enclosed proxy card whether or not you plan to
attend the meeting.
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By Order of the Board of Directors, |
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/s/ Curt M. Lindeman |
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Curt M. Lindeman |
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Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary |
Houston, Texas |
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April 26, 2007 |
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U.S. CONCRETE, INC.
PROXY STATEMENT
FOR 2007 ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT
THE MEETING AND VOTING
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What am I being asked to vote on? |
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We are asking you to vote on the following: |
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the election of seven directors to serve until the 2008 annual meeting of stockholders
(Proposal No. 1); |
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the ratification of the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as our independent
registered public accounting firm for 2007 (Proposal No. 2); and |
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any other business that may properly come before the meeting or any adjournment or
postponement of the meeting. |
Our Board currently consists of eight members. However, due to the pending retirement of Eugene P.
Martineau from his positions as our Chief Executive Officer and President and as a member of our
Board, which will become effective as of the time of the election of directors at the 2007 annual
meeting of stockholders, our Board has determined not to name a nominee to fill the director
position being vacated by Mr. Martineau, so only seven director positions will be subject to
election at the meeting.
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All stockholders of record as of the close of business on April 12, 2007 are entitled to vote.
Holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote per share. As of April 12, 2007,
39,114,719 shares of our common stock were outstanding and entitled to vote. |
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Who may attend the meeting? |
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All stockholders as of the record date, or their duly appointed proxies, may attend the meeting. |
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You may vote in two ways: |
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you may come to the annual meeting and cast your vote in person; or |
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you may vote by signing and returning the enclosed proxy card. If you do, the persons
named on the card will vote your shares in the manner you indicate. |
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Who is soliciting my proxy? |
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U.S. Concrete is soliciting your proxy on behalf of its Board of Directors. |
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What happens if I do not indicate how I wish to vote on one or more of the proposals? |
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If you return your signed proxy card, but do not indicate how you wish to vote, the
persons named as proxies will vote your shares FOR election of all the nominees for
director (Proposal No. 1), and FOR ratification of the appointment of
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (Proposal No. 2). We are unaware of any other matters
that may come before the annual meeting. If they do, the proxy holders will vote the
proxies according to their best judgment. |
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What if I vote by proxy and then change my mind? |
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You can revoke your proxy at any time before the annual meeting by: |
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writing to U.S. Concretes Corporate Secretary at the mailing address in the answer to the last question below; |
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delivering a properly executed proxy dated after the date of the proxy you want to revoke; or |
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attending the annual meeting and casting your vote in person. |
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When did U.S. Concrete first distribute this proxy statement and the accompanying form of proxy to stockholders? |
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We first distributed this proxy statement and the accompanying form of proxy to our stockholders on or about April 26, 2007. |
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What constitutes a quorum? |
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The presence, in person or by proxy, of the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock entitled to
vote at the meeting constitutes a quorum. We need a quorum of stockholders to hold a valid annual meeting. If you have
properly signed and returned your proxy card, you will be considered part of the quorum. We will count abstentions and
broker non-votes as present for the purpose of establishing a quorum. A broker non-vote occurs when a broker votes on some
matters on the proxy card but not on others because the broker does not have the authority to do so. If a quorum is not
present, the chairman or the holders of a majority of the shares of common stock present in person or by proxy at the
annual meeting may adjourn the meeting, without notice other than an announcement at the meeting, until the required quorum
is present. |
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What vote is required for the passage of each of the proposals up for consideration at the annual meeting? |
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Directors are elected by a plurality, which means that the seven nominees receiving the greatest number of votes will be
elected. Ratification of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for 2007 requires
the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast on the proposal. Abstentions and broker non-votes will have no effect
on the vote for directors or the ratification of our independent registered public accounting firm. |
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Who will count the votes? |
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Representatives of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will tabulate the votes. |
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What shares are included on the proxy card? |
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The shares listed on your card represent, as of the record date, all the shares of common stock held in your name, as
distinguished from shares held by a broker in street name. You should receive a separate card from your broker if you
hold shares in street name. |
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What does it mean if I get more than one proxy card? |
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It indicates that your shares are held in more than one account, such as two brokerage accounts, and are registered in
different names. You should vote each of the proxy cards to ensure that all your shares are voted. |
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What is U.S. Concretes mailing address? |
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Our mailing address is U.S. Concrete, Inc., 2925 Briarpark Drive, Suite 1050, Houston, Texas 77042. |
3
SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN
BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT
The following table shows the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of April 12, 2007
(except as set forth in the footnotes below) by each person who we know beneficially owns more than
5% of the outstanding shares of our common stock, each of our directors, our chief executive
officer, our other executive officers named in the Summary Compensation Table in this proxy
statement, and all our directors and executive officers as a group. Unless otherwise indicated in
the footnotes below, each individual named has sole voting and dispositive power with respect to
the shares shown, and the address of all those persons is c/o U.S. Concrete, Inc., 2925 Briarpark
Drive, Suite 1050, Houston, Texas 77042.
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Shares of Common Stock |
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Beneficially Owned |
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Percent |
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Wells Fargo & Company (1) |
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5,045,702 |
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12.89 |
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Barclays Global Investors Japan Limited (2) |
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2,770,481 |
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7.08 |
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GLG Partners LP (3) |
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2,433,373 |
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6.22 |
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The Galleon Group (4) |
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2,050,000 |
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5.24 |
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Robert S. Walker (5) |
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1,677,429 |
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4.29 |
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Thomas J. Albanese (6) |
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1,303,643 |
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3.33 |
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Eugene P. Martineau (7) |
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1,108,229 |
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2.83 |
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William T. Albanese (8) |
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939,476 |
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2.40 |
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Michael W. Harlan (9) |
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720,217 |
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1.84 |
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Vincent D. Foster (10) |
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661,728 |
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1.69 |
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Murray S. Simpson (11) |
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115,353 |
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Robert D. Hardy (12) |
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88,954 |
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Mary P. Ricciardello (13) |
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42,199 |
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T. William Porter (14) |
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42,000 |
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John M. Piecuch |
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2,000 |
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Directors and executive officers as a group (18 persons)(15) |
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7,055,351 |
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18.04 |
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Less than 1%. |
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Number of shares owned is based solely on a Schedule 13G/A filed with the SEC on February
9, 2006, reporting ownership as of December 31, 2006. This stockholders address is 420
Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA 94104. The Schedule 13G/A reports sole voting power for
4,987,797 shares of common stock and sole dispositive power for 4,152,492 shares of common
stock. We have not made any independent determination as to the beneficial ownership of such
stockholder and are not restricted in any determination we may make by reason of inclusion of
such stockholder or its shares in this table. |
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Number of shares owned is based solely on a Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on January 23,
2007, reporting ownership as of December 31, 2006. This stockholders address is Ebisu Prime
Square Tower, 1-1-39 Hiroo Shibuya-Ku,Tokyo 150-8402. The Schedule 13G reports that Barclays
Global Investors Japan Limited (Barclays) may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of
2,770,481 shares of common stock as a result of acting as investment adviser to or manager of
various investment companies, trusts and accounts (the Funds). In its role as investment
advisor or manager, Barclays possesses sole voting power for 2,678,077 shares of common stock
and sole dispositive power for 2,770,481 shares of common stock that are owned by the Funds.
Barclays disclaims beneficial ownership of those shares of common stock because they are owned
by the Funds. We have not made any independent determination as to the beneficial ownership
of such stockholder and are not restricted in any determination we may make by reason of
inclusion of such stockholder or its shares in this table. |
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Number of shares owned is based solely on a Schedule 13G/A filed with the SEC on February
14, 2007, reporting ownership as of December 31, 2006. This stockholders address is 1 Curzon
Street, London W1J5HB, United Kingdom. The schedule 13G/A reports shared voting power and
shared dispositive power for 2,433,373 shares of common stock owned by GLG Partners LP, GLG
Partners Limited, Noam Gottesman, Pierre LaGrange and Emmanuel Roman, all of which share the
same address as GLG Partners LP. We have not made any independent determination as to the
beneficial ownership of such stockholder and are not restricted in any determination we may
make by reason of inclusion of such stockholder or its shares in this table. |
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Number of shares owned is based solely on a Schedule 13G/A filed with the SEC on February 13,
2007, reporting ownership as of December 31, 2006. This stockholders address is 590 Madison
Avenue, 34th Floor, New York, NY |
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10022. The Schedule 13G/A reports shared voting and shared dispositive power for: 2,050,000
shares of common stock owned by the Galleon group, Raj Rajaratnam, Galleon Management L.L.C.
and Galleon Management L.P.; 409,210 shares of common stock owned by Galleon Advisors, L.L.C.
and Galleon Captains Partners, L.P.; and 50,000 shares of common stock owned by Galleon
Diversified Fund, LTD; and 1,590,790 shares of common stock owned by Galleon Captains
Offshore, LTD, all of which share the same address as The Galleon Group. We have not made any
independent determination as to the beneficial ownership of such stockholder and are not
restricted in any determination we may make by reason of inclusion of such stockholder or its
shares in this table. |
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Includes 45,000 shares of common stock Mr. Walker has the right to acquire within 60 days
on the exercise of stock options, 1,070,557 shares deemed beneficially owned by Mr. Walker as
co-trustee of the Walker Family Trust and 561,872 deemed beneficially owned by Mr. Walker as
general partner of Karob, L.P. |
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Includes 50,000 shares of common stock Mr. Albanese has the right to acquire within 60
days on the exercise of stock options, 25,130 shares deemed beneficially owned by Mr. Albanese
as co-trustee of the Thomas J. Albanese Trust, 1,191,311 shares owned by Mr. Albanese as
trustee of the Maureen H. Albanese Qtip trust and 26,750 restricted shares. |
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Includes 515,000 shares of common stock Mr. Martineau has the right to acquire within 60
days on the exercise of stock options and 134,375 restricted shares. |
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Includes 50,000 shares of common stock Mr. Albanese has the right to acquire within 60
days on the exercise of stock options, 852,274 shares deemed beneficially owned by Mr.
Albanese as co-trustee of the William T. Albanese Revocable Trust and 26,750 restricted
shares. |
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Includes 385,000 shares of common stock Mr. Harlan has the right to acquire within 60 days
on the exercise of stock options, 50,000 shares deemed beneficially owned by Mr. Harlan as
co-trustee of the Michael and Bonnie Harlan 1996 Trust and 99,625 restricted shares. |
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Includes 195,000 shares of common stock Mr. Foster has the right to acquire within 60 days on
the exercise of stock options, 300 shares deemed beneficially owned by Mr. Foster as custodian
under the Texas Uniform Gifts to Minors Act. |
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Includes 45,000 shares of common stock Mr. Simpson has the right to acquire within 60 days on
the exercise of stock options, 34,762 shares deemed beneficially owned by Mr. Simpson as
trustee of the Murray S. Simpson 1990 Trust and 30,591 shares owned by the Cora S. Simpson
1990 Trust of which Mr. Simpsons wife serves as trustee. Mr. Simpson disclaims beneficial
ownership of the 30,591 shares the Cora S. Simpson 1990 Trust owns. |
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Includes 56,250 restricted shares. |
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Includes 41,699 shares of common stock Ms. Ricciardello has the right to acquire within 60
days on the exercise of stock options. |
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Includes 30,000 shares of common stock Mr. Porter has the right to acquire within 60 days on
the exercise of stock options. |
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Includes 1,451,699 shares of common stock the directors and executive officers as a group
have the right to acquire within 60 days on the exercise of stock options and 513,876
restricted shares. |
The number of shares and percentage of ownership for each person listed and for the
directors and executive officers as a group assume that shares of common stock those persons may
acquire within 60 days are outstanding, unless otherwise indicated.
5
PROPOSAL NO. 1
ELECTION OF DIRECTORS
Our Board currently consists of eight members. However, due to the pending retirement of
Eugene P. Martineau from his positions as our Chief Executive Officer and President and as a member
of our Board, which will become effective as of the time of the election of directors at the 2007
annual meeting of stockholders, our Board has determined not to name a nominee to fill the director
position being vacated by Mr. Martineau, so only seven director positions will be subject to
election at the meeting. The persons named in the enclosed proxy will vote to elect all of the
nominees as directors for terms ending at the 2008 annual meeting of stockholders, unless you
withhold authority to vote for any or all of the nominees by marking the proxy to that effect or so
voting in person.
Information regarding the ages and backgrounds of the nominees is set forth below:
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Nominee |
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Age |
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Position(s) Held |
Michael W. Harlan
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46 |
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Director, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President Director |
Vincent D. Foster
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50 |
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Director and Chairman of the Board (1) |
T. William Porter, III
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65 |
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Director (2) |
Mary P. Ricciardello
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51 |
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Director (3) |
Murray S. Simpson
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69 |
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Director (4) |
Robert S. Walker
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63 |
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Director (5) |
John M. Piecuch
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58 |
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Director |
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Chairman of the Board, Member of the Audit Committee, Member of the Compensation Committee and Member of the
Executive Committee. |
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Member and Chair of the Compensation Committee and Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. |
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(3) |
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Member and Chair of the Audit Committee |
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(4) |
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Member of the Audit Committee, Member of the Executive Committee and Member and Chair of the Nominating and
Corporate Governance Committee. |
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Member of the Compensation Committee, Member of the Executive Committee and Member of the Nominating and
Corporate Governance Committee. |
Michael W. Harlan has served as our Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer since
April 2003. Mr. Harlan served as our Chief Financial Officer from September 1998 to November 2004,
as Senior Vice President from September 1998 to April 2003, and as our Corporate Secretary from
September 1998 to August 1999. Mr. Harlan served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial
Officer of Apple Orthodontix, Inc., an orthodontic practice management company, from March 1997 to
August 1998. From December 1996 to February 1997, Mr. Harlan served as a consultant to Apple
Orthodontix on financial and accounting matters. From April 1991 through December 1996, Mr. Harlan
held various positions in the finance and acquisitions departments, including Treasurer from
September 1993 to December 1996, of Sanifill, Inc., an international environmental services company
that USA Waste Services, Inc. acquired in 1996. Mr. Harlan is also a director of the National
Ready-Mixed Concrete Association, the industrys largest trade organization (the NRMCA), and a
director of Waste Connections, Inc., a solid waste services company.
Vincent D. Foster has served as one of our directors since August 1998 and became nonexecutive
Chairman of the Board of Directors in May 1999. Since 2002, Mr. Foster has served as a Senior
Managing Director of Main Street Capital Partners, LLC, which manages two investment funds, Main
Street Mezzanine Fund, LP and Main Street Capital II, LP, licensed small business investment
corporations. He also served as Senior Managing Director of Main Street Equity Ventures II, L.P.
(and its predecessor firm), a private equity firm, from 1997 through 2002. From September 1988
through October 1997, Mr. Foster was a partner of Andersen Worldwide and Arthur Andersen LLP, where
he served as the director of the corporate finance practice and the mergers and acquisitions
practice in the southwestern United States. Mr. Foster has served as a director of the Houston,
Texas chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors, of which he is a founding member,
since July 2002. He is also a director of Quanta Services, Inc., an electrical and
telecommunications contracting company, Carriage Services, Inc., a death-care company, and Team
Inc., a provider of specialty industrial services.
6
T. William Porter, III has served as one of our directors since September 2001. Mr. Porter is
the Chairman of Porter & Hedges, L.L.P., a Houston, Texas law firm, of which Mr. Porter has been a
partner since its founding in 1981. Mr. Porter is also a director of Helix Energy Solutions Group,
Inc., a marine contractor and operator of offshore oil and gas properties and production
facilities, and Copano Energy, L.L.C., a midstream energy company with networks of natural gas
gathering and intrastate transmission pipelines.
Mary P. Ricciardello has served as one of our directors since February 2003. Ms. Ricciardello
served as Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer of Reliant Energy, Incorporated, a
diversified energy company now known as CenterPoint Energy, Inc., from January 2001 through August
2002, where she also served as Senior Vice President and Comptroller from 1999 through 2001, as
Vice President and Comptroller from 1996 through 1999, as Corporate Comptroller from 1993 through
1996 and in various other positions from 1982 through 1993. In addition, Ms. Ricciardello served as
Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer of Reliant Resources, Inc. (now Reliant Energy,
Inc.) from 2001 through 2002, a company to which Reliant Energy, Inc. transferred its unregulated
energy business in 2001. Ms. Ricciardello has served as a director of the Houston, Texas chapter of
the National Association of Corporate Directors since May 2004. Ms. Ricciardellos current
principal occupation is as a certified public accountant and she has not held a principal
employment position with a third-party employer since leaving her positions with Reliant Energy,
Inc. and Reliant Resources, Inc. in 2002. Ms. Ricciardello is also a director of Noble Corporation,
an offshore drilling company.
Murray S. Simpson has served as one of our directors since May 1999. From 1975 until 1990, Mr.
Simpson served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Super Concrete Corporation. Following
that companys merger with British construction materials producer Evered, plc, which is now known
as Aggregate Industries, plc, an affiliate of Holcim Ltd., Mr. Simpson served in various roles,
including Executive Vice President, Corporate Development, for its U.S. operations and Director and
Counsel for its mid-Atlantic area subsidiary, Bardon, Inc. Mr. Simpson has served on the board of
directors of the NRMCA for approximately 27 years and served as its chairman of the board from 1997
to 1998. He has also served as a director of the National Aggregates Association.
Robert S. Walker has served as one of our directors since May 1999 and served as Executive
Vice PresidentOperations of our Bay Area Region from May 1999 to December 2000. From 1965 until
May 1999, Mr. Walker served as President of Walkers Concrete, Inc., a company we acquired in May
1999. He is currently a real estate developer.
John M. Piecuch was elected to serve as one of our directors on February 27, 2007.
From 2002 to 2006, Mr. Piecuch served as President and Chief Executive Officer of MMI Products,
Inc., a manufacturer and supplier of construction products, including concrete and steel
reinforcement products, used in North American residential and nonresidential construction
industries. Mr. Piecuch served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Lafarge Corporation, a
leading producer of cement and concrete products in North America, from 1996 to 2001. Previously,
he served in various other positions with Lafarge Corporation and its parent entity, Lafarge S.A.,
from 1987 to 1996. From 1979 to 1986, Mr. Piecuch held various positions, including President of
the Cement Division of National Gypsum Company, a building products manufacturer. Mr. Piecuch is
also a director and chair of the audit committee of Brampton Brick Limited, a company with shares
listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The election of any director requires the favorable vote of the holders of a plurality
of the shares of common stock present and voting, in person or by proxy, at the annual meeting. If
a quorum is present, any abstentions or broker non-votes will not affect the vote. If you properly
sign and return the enclosed proxy, and unless you withhold authority to vote for one or more of
the nominees, the persons named as proxies will vote FOR the election of the nominees listed
above. We do not expect that any of the nominees will refuse or be unable to act as a director of
U.S. Concrete for the term specified. If, however, any nominee becomes unable or unwilling to serve
as a director prior to the vote, the persons named as proxies intend to vote the proxy shares for
the election of any other person the Board of Directors may designate.
The Board of Directors recommends that you vote FOR the election of our director nominees.
7
INFORMATION CONCERNING THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
AND COMMITTEES
Board of Directors
Our Board met nine times and took action by unanimous written consent on two occasions during
2006. Our Board has standing audit, compensation, nominating and corporate governance, and
executive committees. During 2006, each member of the Board attended at least 75% of the aggregate
number of meetings of the Board and any committee of the Board on which such director served. Our
common stock is quoted on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (the Nasdaq). As a result, we are
subject to the Nasdaq listing standards. The Board has determined that six of its members, Ms.
Ricciardello and Messrs. Foster, Piecuch, Porter, Simpson and Walker, are independent directors
within the meaning of the applicable listing standards of the Nasdaq.
Our policy is to encourage all members of the Board to attend our annual meetings of
stockholders. All members of the Board attended last years annual meeting.
Audit Committee
The audit committee, which met six times during 2006, consists of Ms. Ricciardello (chair) and
Messrs. Foster and Simpson. The audit committee is governed by a charter our Board has adopted, a
copy of which is available on our Web site at www.us-concrete.com. The Board has determined that
each member of the audit committee is an independent director in accordance with the applicable
rules of the SEC and applicable corporate governance standards of the Nasdaq. The Board has
determined that Ms. Ricciardello and Mr. Foster are each an audit committee financial expert, as
defined in the applicable rules of the SEC. For information relating to Ms. Ricciardellos and Mr.
Fosters backgrounds, see their respective biographical information under Election of Directors
above.
The audit committee assists our Board in fulfilling its oversight responsibility relating to:
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the integrity of our financial statements and financial reporting process; |
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the adequacy of our internal control over financial reporting; |
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the qualifications, independence and performance of our independent registered public accounting firm; |
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the performance of our internal audit function; and |
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our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. |
The audit committees purpose is to oversee our accounting and financial reporting processes,
the audits of our financial statements, the qualifications of our independent registered public
accounting firm and the performance of our internal auditors. Our management is responsible for
preparing our financial statements and for our internal controls, and our independent registered
public accounting firm is responsible for auditing those financial statements and the related audit
of internal control over financial reporting. The audit committee is not providing any expert or
special assurance as to our financial statements or any professional certification as to the
independent registered public accounting firms work. The following functions are among the key
duties and responsibilities of the audit committee:
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reviewing and discussing with management and our independent registered public
accounting firm our audited and interim unaudited financial statements and related
disclosures included in our periodic reports filed with the SEC; |
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recommending to the Board whether our audited financial statements should be
included in our annual report on Form 10-K for that year; |
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reviewing and discussing the scope and results of the independent registered
public accounting firms annual audit and quarterly reviews of our financial
statements, and any other matters required to be communicated to the audit committee
by the independent registered public accounting firm; |
8
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discussing with management, our senior internal auditor and our independent
registered public accounting firm the adequacy and effectiveness of our disclosure
controls and procedures, our internal controls and procedures for financial
reporting and our risk assessment and risk management policies; |
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the appointment, compensation, retention and oversight of the work of our
independent registered public accounting firm, including overseeing their
independence; |
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reviewing and pre-approving all audit and permitted non-audit services that may
be performed by our independent registered public accounting firm; |
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reviewing and assessing, on an annual basis, the adequacy of the audit
committees charter and recommending revisions to the Board; and |
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reviewing the appointment of our senior internal auditor, reviewing and
discussing with such individual the scope and staffing of our internal audits and
reviewing all significant internal audit reports. |
The audit committee meets separately with our internal auditors and the independent registered
public accounting firm to provide an open avenue of communication.
Compensation Committee
The compensation committee, which met five times and took action by unanimous written consent
on 16 occasions during 2006, consists of Messrs. Porter (chair), Foster and Walker. The
compensation committee is governed by a charter our Board has adopted, a copy of which is available
on our Web site at www.us-concrete.com.
For additional information regarding the compensation committee, see Compensation Committee
Interlocks and Insider Participation and Compensation Discussion and Analysis.
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
The nominating and corporate governance committee, which met three times during 2006, consists
of Messrs. Simpson (chair), Porter and Walker. The nominating and corporate governance committee is
governed by a charter our Board has adopted, a copy of which is available on our Web site at
www.us-concrete.com. Each member of the nominating and corporate governance committee is an
independent director, within the meaning of the applicable Nasdaq listing standards.
The following functions are among the key duties and responsibilities of the nominating and
corporate governance committee:
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evaluating candidates for membership on the Board; |
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recommending to the full Board all nominees for election to the Board by our stockholders; |
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advising the compensation committee regarding the compensation paid to
nonemployee directors in the form of annual retainers and meeting fees; |
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recommending directors to be elected by the Board to fill vacancies on the Board; and |
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reviewing, and making recommendations to the Board regarding, corporate governance matters. |
In carrying out its function to evaluate and recommend nominees for election to the Board, the
nominating and corporate governance committee considers a candidates mix of skills, experience,
character, commitment and diversity of background, all in the context of the requirements of the
Board at that time. Each candidate should be prepared to participate fully in Board activities,
including attendance at, and active participation in, meetings of the Board, and not have other
personal or professional commitments that would, in the nominating and corporate governance
committees judgment, interfere with or limit such candidates ability to do so. Additionally, in
determining whether to recommend a director for re-election, the nominating and corporate
governance committee also considers the directors past attendance at Board and committee meetings
and participation in and contributions to the activities of the Board. The nominating and corporate
governance committee has no stated specific, minimum qualifications that must be met by a candidate
for a position on our
9
Board. The committee does, however, believe it appropriate for at least one member of the
Board to meet the criteria for an audit committee financial expert as defined by SEC rules, and
for a majority of the members of the Board to meet the definition of independent director within
the meaning of the applicable Nasdaq listing standards.
The nominating and corporate governance committees methods for identifying candidates for
election to the Board (other than those proposed by U.S. Concretes stockholders, as discussed
below) include the solicitation of ideas for possible candidates from a number of sources,
including members of the Board, our executives, individuals personally known to the members of the
Board and other research. The nominating and corporate governance committee also has authority to
select and compensate a third-party search firm to help identify candidates, if the committee deems
it advisable to do so.
The nominating and corporate governance committee will consider nominees stockholders
recommend. Stockholders may submit nominations to the nominating and corporate governance committee
in care of Corporate Secretary, U.S. Concrete, Inc., 2925 Briarpark Drive, Suite 1050, Houston,
Texas 77042. As to each person a stockholder proposes to nominate for election as a director, our
bylaws provide that the nomination notice must: (1) include the name, age, business address and
principal occupation or employment of that person, the number of shares of common stock that person
owns beneficially or of record and any other information relating to that person that Section 14 of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the related SEC rules and regulations require; and (2) be
accompanied by the written consent of the person that stockholder proposes to nominate for election
as a director to be named in the proxy statement as a nominee and to serve as a director if
elected. The nomination notice must also include, as to that stockholder or that beneficial owner,
if any, of common stock on whose behalf that stockholder is making the nomination or nominations:
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the name and address of that stockholder, as they appear on U.S. Concretes
books, and the name and address of that beneficial owner; |
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the number of shares of common stock that stockholder and that beneficial owner
each owns beneficially or of record; |
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a description of all arrangements and understandings between that stockholder or
that beneficial owner and each proposed nominee of that stockholder and any other
person or persons (including their names) pursuant to which that stockholder will
make the nomination(s); |
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a representation by that stockholder that he or she intends to appear in person
or by proxy at that meeting to nominate the person(s) named in that nomination
notice; and |
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any other information relating to that stockholder or that beneficial owner that
Section 14 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the related SEC rules and
regulations require. |
To be timely for consideration at our 2008 annual meeting, our Corporate Secretary must
receive a stockholders nomination notice at our principal executive offices, at the address set
forth above, no earlier than November 26, 2007 and no later than the close of business on February
24, 2008.
The nominating and corporate governance committee will consider all candidates identified
through the processes described above, whether identified by the committee or by a stockholder, and
will evaluate each of them on the same basis.
Executive Committee
The executive committee, which met twice during 2006 and took action by unanimous written
consent on two occasions during 2006, consists of Messrs. Foster, Martineau (chair), Simpson and
Walker. The following are among the key duties and responsibilities of the executive committee:
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reviewing and monitoring the strategic direction of our acquisition program; |
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approving acquisitions that involve consideration within limits our Board has established; and |
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exercising such authority as is delegated to it from time to time by our Board. |
Upon the effectiveness of Mr. Martineaus retirement, we expect that Michael W. Harlan will be
added to the executive committee as the chair.
10
Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
All members of our Compensation Committee (Messrs. Porter, Foster and Walker) are independent
in accordance with the applicable Nasdaq listing standards. No member of the Compensation
Committee was, during the year ended December 31, 2006, an officer or employee of U.S. Concrete or
any of its subsidiaries. Mr. Walker was an employee of U.S. Concrete from May 1999 until December
2000. During the year ended December 31, 2006, no member of the Compensation Committee had any
material interest in a transaction of U.S. Concrete or a material business relationship with, or
any indebtedness to, U.S. Concrete. No interlocking relationship existed during the year ended
December 31, 2006 between any member of the Board of Directors or the Compensation Committee and an
executive officer of U.S. Concrete.
Communication with Board of Directors
Stockholders may communicate with our Board by sending their communication to U.S. Concrete,
Inc. Board of Directors, c/o Corporate Secretary, 2925 Briarpark Drive, Suite 1050, Houston, Texas
77042. All stockholder communications received by our Corporate Secretary will be delivered to the
Chairman of the Board.
Director Compensation
We pay to each of our nonemployee directors the following fees:
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an annual retainer of $10,000; |
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$5,000 for each Board meeting attended in person and $2,500 for each Board
meeting attended telephonically; |
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$5,000 for each audit committee meeting attended by the chairperson of the audit
committee, whether attended in person or telephonically and whether or not the
meeting is held on the same day as a Board meeting; |
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$4,000 for each audit committee meeting attended by each other member of the
audit committee, whether attended in person or telephonically and whether or not the
meeting is held on the same day as a Board meeting; and |
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$1,000 for each other Board committee meeting attended in person and $500 for
each such other Board committee meeting attended telephonically, unless the
committee meeting is held on the same day as a Board meeting, in which case the
committee member receives no fee for attending that committee meeting. |
We also annually grant each nonemployee director an option to purchase 10,000 shares of common
stock under our 1999 Incentive Plan. We do not pay any additional compensation to our employees for
serving as directors, but we reimburse all directors for out-of-pocket expenses they incur in
connection with attending Board and Board committee meetings or otherwise in their capacity as
directors.
The table below summarizes the compensation we paid to our nonemployee directors during the
year ended December 31, 2006.
11
2006 DIRECTOR COMPENSATION TABLE
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Fees Earned or |
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All Other |
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Paid in Cash |
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Option Awards |
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Compensation |
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Total |
Name (1) |
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($) |
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($) (2) |
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($) |
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($) |
Vincent D. Foster |
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$ |
60,000 |
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$ |
45,780 |
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$ |
0 |
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$ |
105,780 |
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T. William Porter III |
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$ |
47,000 |
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$ |
45,780 |
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$ |
0 |
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$ |
92,780 |
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Mary P. Ricciardello |
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$ |
75,000 |
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$ |
45,780 |
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$ |
0 |
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$ |
120,780 |
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Murray S. Simpson |
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$ |
70,000 |
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$ |
45,780 |
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$ |
0 |
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$ |
115,780 |
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Robert S. Walker |
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$ |
47,000 |
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$ |
45,780 |
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$ |
0 |
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$ |
92,780 |
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John R. Colson (3) |
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$ |
24,000 |
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$ |
0 |
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$ |
0 |
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$ |
24,000 |
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(1) |
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Messrs. Martineau and Harlan are not included in this table as they are
employees and thus receive no compensation for their services as directors. The
compensation Mr. Martineau and Mr. Harlan received in 2006 is shown in the 2006 Summary
Compensation Table. |
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Reflects the dollar amount recognized for financial statement reporting purposes for
the fiscal year ended December 31, 2006 in accordance with Statement of Financial
Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 123(R) issued by the Financial Accounting Standards
Board. As of December 31, 2006, Mr. Foster, Mr. Porter, Ms. Ricciardello, Mr. Simpson and
Mr. Walker had outstanding options to purchase 195,000, 45,000, 41,699, 45,000 and 45,000
shares, respectively. |
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Mr. Colson determined not to stand for re-election at our 2006 Annual Meeting of
Stockholders, and retired as a director of the company effective May 9, 2006. |
12
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
The following table provides information about our current executive officers:
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Name |
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Age |
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Position(s) held |
Eugene P. Martineau
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67 |
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Director, President and Chief Executive Officer |
Michael W. Harlan
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46 |
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Director, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer |
Robert D. Hardy
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46 |
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Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer |
William T. Albanese
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63 |
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Regional Vice PresidentNorthern California Region |
Thomas J. Albanese
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60 |
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Executive Vice President of SalesBay Area Region |
Scott R. Evans
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52 |
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Regional Vice PresidentSouth Central Region |
M. Terry Green
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59 |
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Senior Vice PresidentOperations |
Sean M. Gore
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39 |
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Vice PresidentFinance |
Wallace H. Johnson
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58 |
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Vice PresidentMarketing and Sales |
Gary J. Konnie
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53 |
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Vice PresidentHuman Resources |
Curt M. Lindeman
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36 |
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Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary |
Cesar Monroy
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46 |
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Treasurer |
Upon the effectiveness of Mr. Martineaus retirement, we expect that the Board will appoint
Mr. Harlan as our President and Chief Executive Officer. For a description of the business
background of Mr. Harlan, see Election of Directors above.
Eugene P. Martineau has served as our Chief Executive Officer and President since September
1998 and as one of our directors since March 1999. Mr. Martineau has over 39 years of experience in
the concrete industry. From 1992 until joining us, he served as Executive Vice President for the
Concrete Products Group of Southdown, Inc., a publicly traded, integrated cement and ready-mixed
concrete company that Cemex S.A. de C.V. acquired in November 2000. From April 1990 through March
1992, Mr. Martineau served as Vice President and General Manager of Southdowns Florida Mining and
Materials. Prior to March 1992, Mr. Martineau held various executive management positions with
Allied Ready Mix, Inc., Ready Mix Concrete Company, the Lehigh Portland Cement Company and Allied
Products Company. Mr. Martineau has served as a director of the NRMCA from 1994 through 1997, from
1999 through 2002 and since 2003, and also served as a member of the Executive Committee of the
NRMCA during 1997, 2000 and 2004. He served as chairman of the NRMCAs Promotion Committee from
1997 through March 1999. Since 1999, Mr. Martineau has served as a trustee of the RMC Research
Foundation, an organization that serves the ready-mixed concrete industry by promoting and funding
research and education for the industry, and during 2004 he also served as chairman of the RMC
Research Foundation. From 1994 through 1997, Mr. Martineau served as the National Director of RMC
2000, a program that has been adopted by the NRMCA to promote ready-mixed concrete as a building
and paving material and improve the overall image of the ready-mixed concrete industry.
Robert D. Hardy has served as our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since
November 2004. From January 2004 through November 2004, Mr. Hardy was self-employed as a business
consultant to NL Industries, Inc., an international chemical company. From 1992 through 2003, Mr.
Hardy held various positions of increasing responsibility in the tax, accounting and finance
departments of NL Industries, including Chief Financial Officer beginning in January 2002, Vice
President and Controller from 1999 to September 2003, Assistant Secretary from 1998 to September
2003 and Assistant Treasurer from prior to 1998 to January 2002. From January 2002 until February
2003, he also served as NL Industries Treasurer. From 1992 to 1998, Mr. Hardy served as NL
Industries Director of Taxes and from 1998 to 1999 he served as its Vice PresidentTax.
William T. Albanese has served as our Regional Vice PresidentNorthern California Region since
May 2005, and served as President of our Bay Area Region from June 1999 through May 2005. From 1987
through May 1999, Mr. Albanese served as President of Central Concrete Supply Co., Inc.
(Central), one of the companies we acquired in May 1999 as the platform business of our Bay Area
Region into which we subsequently consolidated other Bay Area operations. Previously, he served in
various other capacities for Central since 1966. Mr. Albanese is the brother of Thomas J. Albanese,
the Executive Vice President of Sales of our Bay Area Region.
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Thomas J. Albanese has served as Executive Vice President of Sales of our Bay Area Region
since June 1999. From 1987 through May 1999, Mr. Albanese served as Vice President of Central.
Previously, he served in various other capacities for Central since 1969. Mr. Albanese is the
brother of William T. Albanese, the Regional Vice President of our Northern California Region.
Scott R. Evans has served as our Regional Vice PresidentSouth Central Region since October
2004. Mr. Evans has over 25 years of experience in the ready-mixed concrete industry. He previously
served as Vice President and General Manager of Beall Concrete Industries, Ltd. (Beall), our
subsidiary operating in north Texas, with additional oversight of our southwest Oklahoma
operations, from April 2002 through October 2004, and served as General Manager of Beall from
September 2000 through April 2002. From late 1999 to September 2000, Mr. Evans was self-employed as
a business consultant to the concrete industry in the north Texas market. From 1986 through 1999,
Mr. Evans held various positions of increasing responsibility with Lattimore Materials Company, a
ready-mixed concrete company with aggregates quarries operating in north Texas and southern
Oklahoma, including President from 1998 through 1999, Executive Vice President from 1990 through
1998, and Vice President and General Manager from 1986 through 1990. From 1981 through 1986, Mr.
Evans held various positions with Gifford Hill Concrete Products, a construction materials company,
including as Sales Manager of its Dallas, Texas operation from 1983 through 1986.
M. Terry Green has served as our Senior Vice PresidentOperations since October 2005, and
served as Vice PresidentOperational Integration from May 1999 through October 2005. Mr. Green has
managed the operations of ready-mixed concrete producers and other transportation-related
businesses for over 20 years. From August 1998 until May 1999, he served as Vice President of
Maintenance for Armellini Express Lines, Inc. From January 1989 until June 1998, Mr. Green served
as Director of Maintenance, Equipment and Purchasing for the concrete products division of
Southdown, Inc. From 1980 until 1989, Mr. Green held various positions with Kraft, Inc., serving as
Private Fleet Operations Manager from 1988 until 1989.
Sean M. Gore has served as our Vice PresidentFinance since February 2006, and served as our
Director of Business Development from February 2005 through February 2006. From August 2004 through
February 2005, Mr. Gore was self-employed as a business consultant to U.S. Concrete. From January
2004 through July 2004, Mr. Gore was self-employed as a business consultant to Petroleum
Geo-Services ASA, an international oilfield services company. From 1995 through 2003, Mr. Gore held
various positions of increasing responsibility with Petroleum Geo-Services, including Vice
President and Corporate Controller from May 2001 through December 2003, Vice President Finance
and Business Development from October 1999 through April 2001, Vice President Finance from
January 1997 through September 1999, and Controller from May 1995 through December 1996. From 1989
through 1995, Mr. Gore held various positions of increasing responsibility in the audit division of
the accounting firm now known as PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
Wallace H. Johnson has served as our Vice PresidentMarketing and Sales since November 2004.
Mr. Johnson has over 30 years of experience in the construction supply industry. From June 2002
through November 2004, Mr. Johnson served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing of Systech Inc.,
a provider of software systems for the ready-mixed concrete and aggregate industries. From May 2001
through June 2002, he served as Director of Sales of Buildpoint Corp., a provider of online bid
management services for general contractors that Construction Software Technologies, Inc. acquired
in 2004. From 1977 through May 2001, Mr. Johnson served in various sales and sales management
positions within the construction products division of W. R. Grace & Co., a global specialty
chemicals and materials company, including from 1996 through 2001 as regional sales manager and
from 1993 through 1996 as North American sales manager.
Gary J. Konnie has served as our Vice PresidentHuman Resources since November 2004. Mr.
Konnie has over 30 years of human resources management experience. From October 2002 through March
2004, Mr. Konnie served as Senior Vice President of Human Resources of El Paso Corporation, a
provider of natural gas and related energy products. From October 1999 through October 2002, he
served as El Pasos Vice President of Human Resources, and, from May 1998 through October 1999, he
served as El Pasos Director of Human Resources. From 1996 through May 1998, Mr. Konnie served as
Vice President of Human Resources for Meridian Aggregates Company, a producer of construction
aggregates. Prior to 1996, Mr. Konnie held various human resources positions with Rio Tinto plc
(formerly RTZ PLC), Burlington Resources Inc., Boise Cascade, LLC and General Motors Corporation.
14
Curt M. Lindeman has served as our Vice President and General Counsel since January 2007 and
as our Corporate Secretary since September 2006. From June 2006 though January 2007, he served as
our Assistant General Counsel.
From March 2002 through June 2006, Mr. Lindeman was self-employed as an attorney representing
various companies, including U.S. Concrete. From November 1999 through March 2002, he served as
Senior Counsel for Coach USA, Inc., a passenger transportation company. From June 1999 to November
1999, Mr. Lindeman served as counsel for Coral Energy, L.P., a wholesale natural gas and power
marketing and trading company affiliated with Shell Oil Company. From September 1997 to June 1999,
he served as an attorney with Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P.
Cesar Monroy has served as our Treasurer since July 2005. He previously served as our Vice
PresidentFinance from April 2003 until July 2005, and as our Vice PresidentAccounting from June
2002 to April 2003. From 1995 through May 2002, Mr. Monroy was self-employed as a business
consultant to various companies, including as a consultant to U.S. Concrete from March 2000 through
May 2002. From 1993 through 1995, he served as the Chief Financial Officer of Fairchild Aircraft, a
commercial aircraft manufacturer.
15
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
This Compensation Discussion and Analysis addresses the following topics:
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our compensation committee structure and its responsibilities; |
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our compensation-setting process; |
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our compensation philosophy and policies regarding executive compensation; |
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the elements of our executive compensation program; and |
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our compensation decisions for fiscal year 2006 and for the first quarter 2007. |
Structure and Responsibilities of the Compensation Committee
Compensation Committee Members and Independence
T. William Porter III, Vincent D. Foster and Robert S. Walker are the members of the
compensation committee. Mr. Porter, who has served on our Board of Directors for approximately six
years, is the committee chairman. The Board has determined that each member of the compensation
committee is an independent director in accordance with the applicable rules of the SEC and the
applicable listing standards of the Nasdaq.
Responsibilities of Committee
There are three primary purposes of the compensation committee: (1) to discharge the Boards
responsibilities relating to compensation of our executives and directors; (2) to produce annual
reports relating to our compensation discussion and analysis for inclusion in the proxy statements
for our annual meetings; and (3) to oversee the adoption of policies that govern our compensation
programs, including stock and incentive plans. The committee operates under a written charter
adopted by the Board. A copy of the charter is available at www.us-concrete.com under Investors
Corporate Governance. Pursuant to the charter, the committee has the resources necessary to
discharge its duties and responsibilities, including the authority to retain outside counsel or
other experts or consultants as it deems necessary. The following functions are among the key
responsibilities and duties of the compensation committee, any of which may be delegated to one or
more subcommittees, as the committee may deem necessary or appropriate:
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review the competitiveness of our compensation programs for executive officers to
(1) ensure the attraction and retention of executive officers, (2) ensure the
motivation of our executive officers to achieve our business objectives and (3)
align the interest of our executive officers and key employees with the long-term
interests of our stockholders; |
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review trends in management compensation, oversee the development of new
compensation plans and, when necessary, approve the revision of existing plans; |
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evaluate the performance of our chief executive officer and other executive
officers; |
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periodically review the compensation paid to nonemployee directors through annual
retainers and meeting fees and, after consulting with the nominating and corporate
governance committee, make recommendations to the Board for any adjustments; |
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approve the salaries, bonuses and other compensation for all our executive
officers; |
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review and approve compensation packages for new executive officers and
termination packages for executive officers as may be suggested by management; |
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review and discuss with the Board and our executive officers plans for executive
officer development and corporate succession plans for the chief executive officer
and other executive officers; |
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review and make recommendations concerning long-term incentive compensation
plans, including the use of stock options and other equity-based plans; |
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administer our employee benefit plans and discharge any responsibilities imposed
on the committee under those plans, including making and authorizing grants, in
accordance with the terms of those plans; |
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review periodic reports from management on matters relating to personnel
appointments and practices; |
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produce annual reports relating to our compensation discussion and analysis for
inclusion in the proxy statements for our annual meetings in compliance with
applicable SEC rules and regulations; and |
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annually evaluate the committees performance and its charter. |
The Compensation Committee Process
Committee Meetings
The compensation committee meets at least as often as necessary to perform its duties and
responsibilities and works with management to establish the agenda for each meeting. The committee
held five meetings during calendar year 2006 and has held three meetings, and has taken action by
unanimous written consent on one occasion so far during calendar year 2007.
The committee typically meets at least annually with our chief executive officer, chief
operating officer, vice president of human resources and, where appropriate and as needed, general
counsel and outside advisors. The committee also meets as needed in executive sessions without
management, including at least annually, to evaluate the performance of our chief executive officer
and chief operating officer, to determine their bonuses for the prior fiscal year, to set their
base salaries for the next calendar year, and to consider and approve any grants to them of equity
incentive compensation. The committee typically receives and reviews materials in advance of each
meeting. These materials include information that our management believes will be helpful to the
committee, as well as materials that the committee has specifically requested. Depending on the
agenda for the particular meeting, this information may include:
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reports of other officers and general managers compensation; |
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financial reports on year-to-date performance versus budget and versus prior year performance; |
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calculations and reports on levels of achievement of individual and corporate performance objectives; |
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information regarding compensation levels at peer groups of companies identified
by our compensation committee and compensation consultants and reports on U.S.
Concretes two-year performance and current year performance versus those peer
groups; |
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tally sheets setting forth the total compensation of the chief executive officer
and the chief operating officer, including base salary, cash incentives, equity
awards and other compensation, and amounts payable to these executives upon
voluntary or involuntary termination, early or normal retirement, or following a
change-in-control of U.S. Concrete; |
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managements proposals for salary, bonus and long-term incentive compensation; and |
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proposed bonus information on all Houston corporate office employees. |
Managements Role in the Compensation-Setting Process
Management plays a key role in the compensation-setting process. The most significant aspects
of managements role are:
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recommending salary levels and restricted stock awards; |
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recommending business performance targets and objectives for approval by the
compensation committee in connection without incentive compensation plans; and |
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evaluating employee performance. |
17
Our chief executive officer, chief operating officer, chief financial officer and vice
president of human resources are, collectively, the Administrator of our short-term incentive
plan, which is our annual cash bonus plan. The Administrator has the authority to interpret the
plan, to exercise discretion in interpolating performance levels and award payouts outside of or
between the designated benchmarks, as well as to take all steps and make all determinations in
connection with the incentive plan and bonus payouts as it deems necessary. All award payouts must
be approved by the committee.
Our chief executive officer and chief operating officer also participate in committee meetings
at the committees request to provide:
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background information regarding U.S. Concretes strategic objectives; |
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their evaluations of the performance of all senior executive officers,
including Messrs. Hardy, William Albanese and Thomas Albanese; and |
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compensation recommendations as to all executive officers (other than
themselves). |
Compensation Consultants
Compensation data is obtained from Equilar, a proxy compensation database resource, and from
Towers Perrin, a nationally recognized executive compensation consulting firm. We obtain
information to ascertain the median target level for the performance-based components of our
compensation program annually from both Equilar and Towers Perrin. Upon the recommendation of our
senior executive officers, the compensation committee engaged Towers Perrin in the first quarter of
fiscal 2007 to provide us with data regarding the median target level for the performance-based
components with respect to bonus and equity expressed in terms of a percent of base pay for
various salary levels for domestic companies with revenues between $500 million and $1 billion.
Equilar provides us with the peer group proxy data necessary to determine available median levels
for base salaries. The Towers Perrin data is then used in conjunction with data from Equilar to
determine performance-based compensation. We have used Towers Perrin for the last three years and
Equilar for the past year for this purpose. We decided to use Equilar this past year because the
compensation committee determined Equilar is more efficient and comprehensive than other available
services.
Overall Compensation Philosophy and Policies
Our compensation philosophy is to offer a cash and equity-based compensation package that
attracts and retains executive officers and aligns executive compensation with the interests of our
stockholders on both a short-term and long-term basis. In accordance with this philosophy, we seek
to compensate our executive officers fairly for their contributions to our short- and long-term
performance. As described in more detail below, the primary components of our executive
compensation programs are annual base salaries, annual bonuses and long-term equity incentives. In
setting each executives base salary and annual bonus, and in awarding any long-term incentive
compensation, the compensation committee considers comparative compensation information for
equivalent positions from peer companies, using benchmark and market data collected and prepared by
both U.S. Concretes management and its executive compensation consultants. In general, our
compensation policy is to attempt to provide total compensation levels for our five most highly
compensated executive officers, Messrs. Martineau, Harlan, Hardy, William Albanese and Thomas
Albanese (collectively, the named executive officers or NEOs), as well as for other employees,
that are competitive with compensation levels at the companies with compensation programs and
compensation levels at approximately the 50th percentiles in the peer groups described
below.
The compensation committee uses the 50th percentile as a benchmark for each
component of compensation. The level of base salary relative to the median will reflect an
individuals tenure, overall experience and level of performance. The level of performance-based
pay relative to the 50th percentile reflects our annual performance relative to our
budget approved by the Board, returns on sales, and assets and total stockholder return as compared
to the peer groups. As a result of our past performance, the total direct compensation for our
five most highly paid executives currently falls at approximately the 25th percentile.
However, we retain the flexibility to set compensation above the 50th percentile for key
executives with significant industry experience and/or outstanding sustained performance over a
period of time and for executives within individual business units that achieve excellent
performance when company results are below budget in the aggregate.
The median level for base salary is derived from peer group compensation data. With the
exceptions noted in the footnotes below, the peer group for the NEOs, excluding the chief operating
officer, is an industry peer group of 17 companies of comparable size (revenues between $600 and
$700 million) and related industry (construction) (Peer Group 1"). The peer group for the chief
operating officer is different due to the fact that most of the companies in the peer group for
18
the other NEOs did not report compensation information for a chief operating officer. The
chief operating officers peer group consists of 50 companies of comparable size (revenues between
$600 and $700 million) reporting a chief operating officer (Peer Group 2). The Peer Group 1 and
Peer Group 2 compensation data is obtained from Equilar. The compensation committee directed
management to utilize Equilar to prepare peer groups based on revenue, industry and geographic
location.
The companies in Peer Group 1 were: Ameron International Corp; Apogee Enterprises Inc.**;
Comfort Systems USA, Inc.**; Dominion Homes Inc.; Drew Industries Inc.; Dycom Industries Inc.**;
Eagle Materials, Inc*.; Elkcorp**; Huttig Building Products, Inc.**; Infrasource Services Inc.;
Insituform Technologies Inc.**; Levitt Corp; Mastec Inc.**; Noland Co.*; Orleans Homebuilders Inc.*
**; Palm Harbor Homes Inc./FL/**; and Simpson Manufacturing Co. Inc./CA/.
The companies in Peer Group 2 were: Nautilus Inc.; Netflix Inc.; Oakley Inc.; Orbital Sciences
Corp./DE/; Parexel International Corp.; Party City Corp.; Pemstar Inc.; Perry Ellis International
Inc.; Pike Electric Corp.; Pinnacle Airlines Corp.; Pinnacle Entertainment Inc.; Pricesmart Inc.;
Restoration Hardware Inc.; Richardson Electronics Ltd./DE/; Rural Cellular Corp.; Scweitzer Mauduit
International Inc.; Stoneridge Inc.; Stride Rite Corp.; Titanium Metals Corp.; Too, Inc.; West
Marine Inc.; World Air Holdings Inc.; AMN Healthcare Services Inc.; Axcelis Technologies Inc.;
Bioscrip Inc.; Bright Horizons Family solutions Inc.; Central European Distribution Corp.; Century
Business Services Inc.; Conmed Corp.; Conns Inc.; Covenant Transport Inc.; Dominion Homes Inc.; EDO
Corp.; Encore Wire Corp./DE/; Flyi Inc.; Fresh Brands Inc.; Galyans Trading Co. Inc.; Geo Group
Inc.; Golden Telecom Inc.; Hanger Orthopedic Group Inc.; Imagistics International Inc.; Infonet
Services Corp.; Insituform Technologies Inc.; ITC Deltacom Inc.; Jakks Pacific Inc.; Leapfrog
Enterprises Inc.; Libbey Inc.; Littelfuse Inc./DE/; MKS Instruments Inc.; and Mothers Work Inc.
Corporate performance objectives typically have been established on an EBITDA basis for U.S.
Concrete and each business unit. We generally define EBITDA as our net income (loss), plus (1) the
provision (benefit) for income taxes, (2) net interest expense, (3) noncash impairments and (4)
depreciation, depletion and amortization. The compensation committee periodically reviews the
appropriateness of this financial measure, as used in our incentive plans, the degree of difficulty
in achieving the targets based on this measure, as well as certain strategic and non-financial
objective criteria.
Components of Executive Compensation
The primary components of our executive compensation programs are annual base salaries, annual
bonuses and long-term equity incentives. Under our current compensation structure, the
compensation committee has not specifically allocated the mix of base salary, bonus and equity
compensation as targeted percentages of total compensation.
The only indirect compensation we make available to all our executives is an annual matching
contribution we make under our 401(k) plan. However, our chief executive officer, our chief
operating officer and Messrs. William Albanese and Thomas Albanese are eligible to participate in a
deferred compensation program. *
Base Salary
The compensation committees policy is to determine base salaries initially by evaluating the
levels of responsibility, prior experience and breadth of knowledge of the executives, internal
equity issues and external pay practices. The committee reviews executive salaries annually based
on a variety of factors, including individual scope of responsibility and accountability,
individual performance, general levels of market salary increases and U.S. Concretes overall
results. The committees policy is to grant salary increases within a pay-for-performance
framework. The committee assesses performance for base salary purposes based on goal
accomplishments, such goals to be set by supervisors, or in the cases of the chief operating
officer and chief executive officer, by the Board, and job-related behaviors relative to defined
competencies, such as productivity, ownership, teamwork, goal accomplishment, corporate citizenship
and managerial competence. It considers individual performance in achieving predetermined goals
set by the employee and, except in the case of the chief executive officer, his immediate
supervisor in establishing base salary increases for each executive. The 2006 base salaries for the
NEOs were as follows:
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These companies were not included in
Mr. Hardys peer group analysis, as they did not report a CFO. |
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These companies were not included in peer group analysis for Messrs.
William Albanese and Thomas Albanese, peer, as they did not report a
president of a division. |
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2006 BASE SALARY |
Chief Executive Officer |
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$ |
642,923 |
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Chief Operating Officer |
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389,924 |
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Chief Financial Officer |
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243,750 |
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Regional Vice President Northern California |
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292,278 |
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Executive Vice President of Sales Bay Area |
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292,275 |
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Annual Bonus
The compensation committee considers awarding cash bonuses to executive officers on an annual
basis. For 2006, the committee adopted a cash bonus plan designed to provide all our salaried
employees, including all our executive officers, with additional performance incentives for meeting
certain financial and individual goals during 2006. The short-term incentive plans objective for
2006 was to establish a bonus pool created by multiplying the overall sum of each participants
annual base pay by a percentage determined by comparing our overall EBITDA performance to budgeted
EBITDA. The resulting percentage of base pay available for payout to each participant, excluding
participants in our Houston corporate office (including our chief executive officer, our chief
operating officer and our chief financial officer), was based on the following allocation to
specific performance measures: (1) 33.3% was payable based on our overall EBITDA as compared to
budgeted EBITDA, and meeting or exceeding certain business unit non-financial performance measures,
including, but not limited to performance measures based on safety, customer service, human
resources and operations; (2) 33.3% was payable based on the applicable employees business units
EBITDA performance as compared to budgeted EBITDA; and (3) 33.3% was payable if individual
performance measures were satisfied. Cash bonuses available for payout to the participants located
in our Houston corporate office (including our chief executive officer, chief operating officer and
chief financial officer), pursuant to the plan was based on the following allocation to specific
performance measures: (1) 66.6% was payable based on our overall EBITDA as compared to budgeted
EBITDA and meeting or exceeding certain company non-financial performance measures including, but
not limited to performance measures based on safety, customer service, human resources and
operations; and (2) 33.3% was payable if individual performance measures were satisfied. Target
bonus percentages varied in accordance with an employees level of responsibility. Additionally,
in its discretion, the compensation committee could grant cash bonuses in excess of the amounts
determined pursuant to the plan. In February 2007, participants in the short-term incentive plan
received approximately 60% of their target bonus amount in the aggregate, as we attained
approximately 89.3% of our budgeted EBITDA. The compensation committee also exercised its
discretion in 2007, and taking into consideration factors such as the desire to retain key
personnel, the accomplishment of strategic objectives, and recognition of above-average performance
of certain business units, and awarded bonus amounts in addition to the amounts determined pursuant
to the plan. The bonuses for the NEOs, which were earned in 2006 and paid by U.S. Concrete in
February 2007, were as follows:
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2006 BONUS |
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Bonus Pursuant to Plan |
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Discretionary Bonus |
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Total |
Chief Executive Officer |
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$ |
131,198 |
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$ |
135,802 |
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$ |
267,000 |
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Chief Operating Officer |
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64,386 |
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66,614 |
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131,000 |
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Chief Financial Officer |
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44,100 |
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30,900 |
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75,000 |
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Regional Vice
President Northern
California |
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42,386 |
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2,614 |
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45,000 |
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Executive Vice
President of Sales
Bay Area |
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30,527 |
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14,473 |
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45,000 |
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For at least the last three years, total direct compensation for our five most highly paid
executives has fallen at approximately the 25th percentile of applicable peer groups.
In order to create incentive and retain key management personnel, the compensation committee is
considering revising its philosophy of formulaically creating a bonus pool based on the
accomplishment of a sole financial criteria, to a more subjective bonus pool to be established
based on the accomplishment of both financial and key strategic objectives. The purpose of this
change in philosophy is to not only increase the possibility that bonus pool participants will
receive a competitive annual incentive bonus, but also to reward more balanced management behavior
rather than merely a short-term profit orientation or the effects of local market conditions.
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Incentive Compensation and Restricted Stock Awards
The compensation committee believes that equity compensation is one of the most effective
means of creating a long-term link between the compensation provided to executive officers and
other key management personnel and gains realized by our shareholders. Currently, our policy is to
use restricted stock as the primary form of equity compensation for our executive officers.
Historically, we awarded stock options because of their favorable accounting and tax treatments.
However, beginning in 2003, primarily as a result of the impending change in the accounting
treatment for stock options, we started granting restricted stock to executives and key employees
in lieu of stock options. Our prior approach involving granting equity awards to many levels of
salaried employees has been revised and we have reduced the number of employees eligible for equity
award grants due to the implementation of SFAS No. 123(R), as well as the position of various
institutional shareholder representative groups regarding the percent of outstanding shares that
should be granted on an annual basis to employees.
We have assessed the desirability of granting shares of restricted stock to employees,
particularly members of senior management, and concluded that grants of restricted stock would
provide an equally motivating form of incentive compensation while permitting us to issue fewer
shares than would underlie option grants, thereby reducing potential dilution. We continue to use
restricted stock awards as a long-term incentive vehicle because:
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restricted stock awards help to align the interests of executives with those of
the stockholders, foster employee stock ownership, and contribute to the focus of
the management team on increasing value for the stockholders; and |
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the vesting period encourages executive retention. |
In determining the number of shares of restricted stock to be granted to senior executive
officers, the compensation committee takes into account the individuals position, scope of
responsibility, ability to affect profits and stockholder value, the individuals historic and
recent performance, and the value of the restricted stock award in relation to other elements of
total direct compensation.
The compensation committee currently intends to continue to make greater use of restricted
stock in the future as the primary form of long-term incentive compensation and, correspondingly,
reduce our use of stock options. However, our ability to grant competitive numbers of restricted
shares is affected by our agreement with Institutional Shareholder Services to limit the number of
shares available to be granted to employees in any given year to 1% of the outstanding shares.
This restriction will remain in place through 2008.
The compensation committees policy is to determine the dollar amount of equity compensation
to be provided and to then grant a number of shares of restricted stock that have a fair market
value equal to that amount as of the date of grant. With the exception of promotions, new hires
and employees of acquired companies, we generally make these awards during the first quarter.
The 2006 equity grant targets as a percentage of base pay were approximately 50% of the
previous year, as the mix of equity grants shifted to more restricted stock and fewer options. The
compensation committee approved equity grants of 99,000 and, as of the date of this proxy
statement, 112,500 shares of restricted stock to the named executive officers during 2006 and 2007,
respectively, which related to their service in 2005 and 2006 and as an incentive to achieve U.S.
Concretes future objectives. The committee did not grant any stock options to employees,
including the named executive officers, in 2006 and does not expect to grant any stock options to
those persons in 2007.
The equity grants received by the NEOs during 2006 and 2007 were as follows:
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2006 Restricted Stock Awards |
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2007 Restricted Stock Awards |
Chief Executive Officer |
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40,000 |
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40,000 |
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Chief Operating Officer |
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27,000 |
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32,500 |
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Chief Financial Officer |
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15,000 |
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20,000 |
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Regional Vice PresidentNorthern California |
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7,000 |
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10,000 |
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Executive Vice President of SalesBay Area |
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7,000 |
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10,000 |
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21
The compensation committee approved grants to Mr. Martineau of 40,000 shares of restricted
stock in 2006, valued at $12.53 per share, and 40,000 shares of restricted stock in 2007, valued at
$8.42 per share (in each case with the fair market value of a share of common stock being
determined as of the date of grant). In determining the number of restricted shares granted to Mr.
Martineau, the committee considered numerous subjective factors, including his experience in the
industry and commitment to the success of U.S. Concrete. As of April 12, 2007, Mr. Martineau owned
1,108,229 shares of common stock (134,375 of which are restricted shares), including options to
purchase a total of 515,000 shares.
The compensation committee approved grants to Mr. Harlan of 27,000 shares of restricted stock
in 2006, valued at $12.53 per share and 32,500 shares of restricted stock in 2007, valued at $8.42
per share (in each case with the fair market value of a share of common stock being determined as
of the date of grant). In determining the number of restricted shares granted to Mr. Harlan, the
committee considered numerous subjective factors, including his experience in the industry, his
performance, his commitment to the success of U.S. Concrete and our desire to retain Mr. Harlan.
As of April 12, 2007, Mr. Harlan owned 720,217 shares of common stock (99,625 of which are
restricted shares), including options to purchase a total of 385,000 shares.
The compensation committee approved grants to Mr. Hardy of 15,000 shares of restricted stock
in 2006, valued at $12.53 per share, and 20,000 shares of restricted stock in 2007, valued at $8.42
per share (in each case with the fair market value of a share of common stock being determined as
of the date of grant). In determining the number of restricted shares granted to Mr. Hardy, the
committee considered numerous subjective factors, including his experience in the industry, his
performance, his commitment to the success of U.S. Concrete and our desire to retain Mr. Hardy. As
of April 12, 2007, Mr. Hardy owned 88,954 shares of common stock (56,250 of which are restricted
shares).
The compensation committee approved grants to Mr. William T. Albanese of 7,000 shares of
restricted stock in 2006, valued at $12.53 per share, and 10,000 shares of restricted stock in
2007, valued at $8.42 per share (in each case with the fair market value of a share of common stock
being determined as of the date of grant). In determining the number of restricted shares granted
to Mr. Albanese, the committee considered numerous subjective factors, including his experience in
the industry, his performance, his commitment to the success of U.S. Concrete and our desire to
retain Mr. Albanese. As of April 12, 2007, Mr. Albanese owned 939,476 shares of common stock
(26,750 of which are restricted shares), including options to purchase a total of 50,000 shares.
The compensation committee approved grants to Mr. Thomas J. Albanese of 7,000 shares of
restricted stock in 2006, valued at $12.53 per share, and 10,000 shares of restricted stock in
2007, valued at $8.42 per share (in each case with the fair market value of a share of common stock
being determined as of the date of grant). In determining the number of restricted shares granted
to Mr. Albanese, the committee considered numerous subjective factors, including his experience in
the industry, his performance, his commitment to the success of U.S. Concrete and our desire to
retain Mr. Albanese. As of April 12, 2007, Mr. Albanese owned 1,303,643 shares of common stock
(26,750 of which are restricted shares), including options to purchase a total of 50,000 shares.
The compensation committee believes that the equity interests held by the NEOs provide
appropriate links to the interests of our stockholders.
Additional Benefits Pursuant to Employment Agreements or Term Sheets
We entered into employment agreements in May 2003 with several key employees and executive
officers, including the following named executive officers: Messrs. Martineau, Harlan, William
Albanese and Thomas Albanese. Each of these agreements:
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provides for an annual minimum base salary; |
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entitles the employee to participate, on the same basis generally as other
executive officers, in employee benefit plans and programs generally available to
our other salaried employees; and |
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had an initial term of three years in the case of Messrs. Martineau and Harlan
and an initial term of two years in the case of Messrs. William Albanese and Thomas
Albanese. This initial term was subject to an extension option, in the case of Mr.
Martineau, and automatic renewal for certain additional periods, in the case of
Messrs. Harlan, William Albanese and Thomas Albanese (described below). |
In 2004 we discontinued entering into formal employment agreements with newly hired executive
officers. For those executive officers hired in 2004 through the present time, we have agreed to
letter agreements or term sheets containing
22
elements that may be found in employment agreements for executive officers. The compensation
committee is currently considering the possibility of entering into employment agreements with
select executive officers.
Beginning in May 2005, in the case of Mr. Harlan, and May 2004, in the case of Messrs. William
Albanese and Thomas Albanese, the term of employment will be for a continually renewing (on a daily
basis) term of one year, subject to the right of either us or the employee to terminate the
employees employment at any time. After May 2006, we may terminate the continually renewing
one-year term of employment of the employee by providing him with one years advance notice, at
which time he will become an employee at will if he remains our employee. We may not terminate
the continually renewing one-year term following a change of control and, if we give notice as
described in the foregoing sentence within one year prior to a change of control, then the
employees term of employment will again be for a continually renewing (on a daily basis) term of
one year commencing on the date of the change of control.
We entered into a letter agreement for employment with Mr. Hardy in November 2004. Mr. Hardys
letter agreement provides for an annual minimum base salary, and entitles Mr. Hardy to participate
in our short-term and long-term incentive plans and all health and welfare benefit programs
available to similarly situated employees of ours.
Severance Benefits
Our philosophy is to provide reasonable severance benefits to our executive employees through
the terms and conditions of their employment agreements, letter agreements or term sheets. With
respect to senior executive officers, we believe these severance benefits should reflect the fact
that it may be difficult for employees to find comparable employment within a short period of time.
They also should separate us from the former employee as soon as practicable.
With respect to Messrs. Harlan, William Albanese and Thomas Albanese, where the termination is
without cause or the employee terminates employment for good reason, our severance plan
provides for the benefits equal to the base monthly salary for the balance of the term in addition
to the greater of: (1) the average amount of the employees bonus in the preceding three years; or
(2) if within 30 days of the date of termination we are on target to pay bonuses to the executive
officers for the bonus year during which the termination occurs, the amount of his target bonus for
that bonus year. We also will continue to pay health care and other insurance benefits for the
lesser of 18 months or the remainder of the term corresponding to the termination benefits and
immediately vest all equity compensation.
In the event Mr. Hardy is terminated involuntarily without cause, he will be eligible to
receive a payment equal to his annual base salary plus his annual target bonus, and all of his
unvested shares of restricted stock that are scheduled to vest over time will immediately vest.
Eugene P. Martineau, our chief executive officer and president and a member of our Board of
Directors, will be retiring from U.S. Concrete and resigning from each of his officer and director
positions on the date of the 2007 annual meeting of stockholders. At a meeting held on February 23,
2007, our Board of Directors approved a consulting agreement between Mr. Martineau and us. The
consulting agreement provides for, among other things:
|
|
|
the resignation by Mr. Martineau from his positions as our chief executive
officer and as a member of our Board of Directors, as well as from all positions as
an officer and director of our subsidiaries, effective as of the date of the 2007
annual meeting of stockholders (the Effective Date); |
|
|
|
|
the engagement of Mr. Martineau as a consultant to us for a three-year period
beginning with the Effective Date and continuing to the third anniversary of the
Effective Date (the Consulting Period); |
|
|
|
|
consulting payments by us to Mr. Martineau of $458,000 during each year of the
Consulting Period; |
|
|
|
|
the continued vesting of Mr. Martineaus outstanding stock incentive awards
during the Consulting Period, and the complete vesting of any of Mr. Martineaus
outstanding stock incentive awards on the last day of the Consulting Period, unless
Mr. Martineaus engagement as a consultant is terminated for cause, as defined in
the agreement; |
|
|
|
|
the continued eligibility of Mr. Martineau, his spouse and his eligible
dependents under our group health and medical benefit programs to the same extent
such benefits are generally made available to active employees of ours at the
applicable active employee premium rate, in lieu of any statutory-based continuation
coverage; and |
23
|
|
|
reimbursement by us of Mr. Martineaus reasonable business expenses, including
business-related travel, incurred by Mr. Martineau in performance of his duties as a
consultant, relating to performance requested by us or related to Mr. Martineaus
participation in certain specified industry organizations on our behalf, in
accordance with the consulting agreement. |
In addition, the consulting agreement provides that if we terminate Mr. Martineaus consulting
relationship with us without cause, as defined in the agreement, he will continue to receive the
payments and benefits described above through the end of the Consulting Period and his stock
options, restricted stock awards, restricted stock units and similar awards will vest and become
fully exercisable on the date of termination. If we terminate Mr. Martineaus consulting
relationship for cause or if Mr. Martineau terminates the relationship for any reason, our
obligation to make the payments described above will terminate as of the date of termination and,
except in the case of his termination by reason of a disability, as defined in the agreement, Mr.
Martineaus stock options, restricted stock awards, restricted stock units and similar awards will
be subject to certain restrictions on exercisability and vesting.
The consulting agreement also provides that, in the event of a change in control, as defined
in the agreement, the Consulting Period will immediately end and we will pay Mr. Martineau a
lump-sum payment in the amount of $900,000, in lieu of any further payments or benefits under the
agreement.
Based on a hypothetical termination date of December 31, 2006 (prior to the implementation of
the consulting agreement with Mr. Martineau), the severance benefits for our NEOs would have been
as follows:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Healthcare and Other |
|
|
|
|
Base Salary |
|
Targeted Bonus |
|
Insurance Benefits |
|
Total |
Chief Executive Officer |
|
$ |
642,923 |
|
|
$ |
446,250 |
|
|
$ |
12,614 |
|
|
$ |
1,101,787 |
|
Chief Operating Officer |
|
$ |
389,923 |
|
|
$ |
219,000 |
|
|
$ |
18,706 |
|
|
$ |
627,629 |
|
Chief Financial Officer |
|
$ |
243,750 |
|
|
$ |
100,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
$ |
343,750 |
|
Regional Vice President Northern California |
|
$ |
292,278 |
|
|
$ |
109,793 |
|
|
$ |
12,614 |
|
|
$ |
414,685 |
|
Executive Vice President of Sales Bay Area |
|
$ |
292,275 |
|
|
$ |
109,793 |
|
|
$ |
6,218 |
|
|
$ |
408,286 |
|
The definition of cause varies among the different employment agreements with the members of
senior management. For most, cause will be deemed to exist where the individual has been
convicted of a felony, has violated his non-competition or confidentiality obligations, or,
following a cure period, has been grossly negligent in fulfillment of his responsibilities or has
breached any provision of his agreement. Good reason for an executive to terminate and collect
severance benefits generally will exist where an employees position or compensation has been
decreased or where the employee has been required to relocate without his consent.
Retirement Plans
We maintain a 401(k) plan pursuant to which we match employee contributions dollar-for-dollar
up to 5% of an employees annual salary, but not exceeding statutory limitations. The 401(k)
matching contribution is the only indirect compensation available to all executives. However,
Messrs. Martineau, Harlan, William Albanese and Thomas Albanese are eligible to participate in a
deferred compensation plan, which allows each of the foregoing employees to elect to defer up to 6%
of his annual compensation. A terminated employee receives the funds accumulated in his deferred
compensation plan account as of his termination date. The compensation committee provided the
deferred compensation plan for these four individuals in lieu of supplemental retirement plans,
defined benefit pension plans and retiree medical coverage. The compensation committee is
currently reviewing the possibility of expanding eligibility to other executive officers.
Change in Control
Our senior management and other employees have built U.S. Concrete into the successful
enterprise it is today, and we believe that it is important to protect them in the event of a
change in control. Further, it is our belief that the interests of our senior management should be
aligned with our stockholders, and providing change in control benefits should eliminate, or at
least reduce, the reluctance of senior management to pursue potential change in control
transactions that may be in the best interests of stockholders. Compared to the overall value of
our company, these potential change in control benefits are relatively minor. The cash components
of any change in control benefits for the NEOs would be paid in lump-sum amounts and would be based
on multiples of the executives respective annual base salaries, in addition to a bonus for each
NEO equal to the greater of: (1) the average amount of his bonus in the preceding three years; or
(2) if within 30 days of the date of
24
termination we are on target to pay bonuses to executive officers for the bonus year, during
which the termination occurs, the amount of his target bonus for that bonus year, with the
exception of the chief financial officer, who would simply receive his annual target bonus. The
multiples of the base salary are as follows:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Multiple |
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer |
|
|
3 |
|
|
Messrs. William Albanese and Thomas Albanese |
|
|
2 |
|
|
Chief Financial Officer |
|
|
1 |
|
In the event of a change in control, we would also continue health and other insurance
benefits for 18 months corresponding to termination benefits and immediately vest all equity
compensation. In addition, terminated employees receive any amounts accumulated in their 401(k)
plan accounts as of the date of their termination. The compensation committee is currently
reviewing the possibility of modifying and expanding eligibility for change in control benefits to
certain NEOs and other executive officers.
We have agreed to reimburse Messrs. Martineau, Harlan, William Albanese and Thomas Albanese
for any taxes imposed as a result of change in control benefits, including the so-called
parachute tax imposed upon payments made or benefits conferred under the employment agreements by
Internal Revenue Code Section 280G.
25
Based on a hypothetical termination date of December 31, 2006, the change in control
termination benefits for our NEOs would have been as follows (prior to the implementation of the
consulting agreement with Mr. Martineau):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Healthcare And |
|
Fair Market Values |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Other Insurance |
|
of Accelerated |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Base Salary |
|
Bonus |
|
Benefits |
|
Equity Compensation |
|
Tax Gross-Up |
|
Total |
Chief Executive Officer |
|
$ |
1,928,769 |
|
|
$ |
446,250 |
|
|
$ |
12,614 |
|
|
$ |
743,150 |
|
|
$ |
732,223 |
|
|
$ |
3,863,006 |
|
|
Chief Operating Officer |
|
$ |
1,169,769 |
|
|
$ |
219,000 |
|
|
$ |
18,706 |
|
|
$ |
525,990 |
|
|
$ |
475,536 |
|
|
$ |
2,409,001 |
|
|
Chief Financial Officer |
|
$ |
243,750 |
|
|
$ |
100,000 |
|
|
$ |
0 |
|
|
$ |
284,800 |
|
|
$ |
0 |
|
|
$ |
628,550 |
|
|
Regional Vice
PresidentNorthern
California |
|
$ |
584,556 |
|
|
$ |
109,793 |
|
|
$ |
12,614 |
|
|
$ |
131,720 |
|
|
$ |
0 |
|
|
$ |
838,683 |
|
|
Executive Vice
President of SalesBay
Area |
|
$ |
584,550 |
|
|
$ |
109,793 |
|
|
$ |
6,218 |
|
|
$ |
131,720 |
|
|
$ |
0 |
|
|
$ |
832,281 |
|
The definition of change in control varies among the different employment agreements with
the members of senior management. For most of our executives, a change in control will be deemed
to have occurred on any of the following: (1) a merger or consolidation of our company with any
other person or entity, if the voting securities of our company outstanding immediately prior to
such merger or consolidation do not continue to represent (either by remaining outstanding or by
being converted into voting securities of the surviving entity) more than 50% of the total voting
power of the voting securities of our company or such surviving entity outstanding immediately
after such merger or consolidation; (2) the sale of all or substantially all of our assets to
another person or entity; (3) the dissolution of our company; or (4) any person or entity together
with its affiliates becoming, directly or indirectly, the beneficial owner of voting securities
representing more than 50% of the total voting power of all then outstanding voting securities of
our company.
Perquisites and Other Benefits
The compensation committee reviewed perquisites provided to our executive officers in 2006.
There were no perquisites requiring disclosure pursuant to applicable SEC rules in 2006.
Compliance with Internal Revenue Code Section 162(m)
Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code generally disallows a deduction to public
companies to the extent of excess annual compensation over $1 million paid to certain executive
officers, except for qualified performance-based compensation. We had nondeductible compensation
expense for the year ended December 31, 2006 in the amount of $393,230 for Eugene P. Martineau. The
compensation committee plans to review this matter as appropriate and take action as may be
necessary to preserve the deductibility of compensation payments to the extent reasonably practical
and consistent with our compensation objectives.
Conclusion
Based upon its review of our overall executive compensation program, the compensation
committee believes our executive compensation program, as applied to our executive officers, is
appropriate and is necessary to retain the executive officers who are essential to our continued
development and success, to compensate those executive officers for their contributions and to
enhance stockholder value. The committee believes that the total compensation opportunities
provided to our executive officers creates a commonality of interest and alignment of our long-term
interests with those of our stockholders.
26
REPORT OF THE COMPENSATION COMMITTEE
We have reviewed and discussed the foregoing Compensation Discussion and Analysis with
management. Based on our review and discussion with management, we have recommended to the Board
of Directors that the Compensation Discussion and Analysis be included in this proxy statement.
This report is furnished by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors.
T. William Porter, Chairman
Vincent D. Foster
Robert S. Walker
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth in any of our previous filings under the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that
incorporate future filings, including this proxy statement, in whole or in part, the foregoing
Report of the Compensation Committee shall not be deemed to be filed with the SEC or incorporated
by reference into any filing under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, except to the extent
that we specifically incorporate it by reference.
27
2006 SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE
The following table sets forth the compensation we paid during 2006 to our chief executive
officer, chief financial officer and three other most highly compensated executive officers in
2006.
|
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Change in |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pension |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Value and |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nonqualified |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Non-Equity |
|
Deferred |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Restricted Stock |
|
Option |
|
Incentive Plan |
|
Compensation |
|
Other |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Salary |
|
|
|
|
|
Awards |
|
Awards |
|
Compensation |
|
Earnings |
|
Compensation |
|
|
Name and Principal Position |
|
Year |
|
($)(6) |
|
Bonus ($) |
|
($)(7) |
|
($)(8) |
|
($)(9) |
|
($) |
|
($) |
|
Total ($) |
Eugene P. Martineau |
|
|
2006 |
|
|
$ |
642,923 |
|
|
$ |
135,802 |
|
|
$ |
334,335 |
|
|
$ |
8,223 |
|
|
$ |
131,198 |
|
|
$ |
17,351 |
|
|
$ |
23,166 |
(1) |
|
$ |
1,292,998 |
|
President and Chief Executive
Officer |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Robert D. Hardy |
|
|
2006 |
|
|
$ |
243,750 |
|
|
$ |
30,900 |
|
|
$ |
125,031 |
|
|
$ |
0 |
|
|
$ |
44,100 |
|
|
$ |
0 |
|
|
$ |
23,471 |
(2) |
|
$ |
467,252 |
|
Senior Vice President
and Chief Financial
Officer |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Michael W. Harlan |
|
|
2006 |
|
|
$ |
389,923 |
|
|
$ |
66,614 |
|
|
$ |
226,506 |
|
|
$ |
6,579 |
|
|
$ |
64,386 |
|
|
$ |
9,546 |
|
|
$ |
26,279 |
(3) |
|
$ |
789,833 |
|
Executive Vice President
and Chief Operating Officer |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
William T. Albanese |
|
|
2006 |
|
|
$ |
292,278 |
|
|
$ |
2,614 |
|
|
$ |
54,587 |
|
|
$ |
2,056 |
|
|
$ |
42,386 |
|
|
$ |
1,606 |
|
|
$ |
19,409 |
(4) |
|
$ |
414,936 |
|
Regional Vice
President Northern California
Region |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thomas J. Albanese |
|
|
2006 |
|
|
$ |
292,275 |
|
|
$ |
14,473 |
|
|
$ |
54,587 |
|
|
$ |
2,056 |
|
|
$ |
30,527 |
|
|
$ |
(19,263 |
) |
|
$ |
17,624 |
(5) |
|
$ |
392,279 |
|
Executive Vice President of
Sales Bay Area Region |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(1) |
|
Includes (i) $8,409 in employer-paid health insurance premiums, and (ii) $11,000 in
employer-matching contributions under our 401(k) savings plan. |
|
(2) |
|
Includes (i) $12,471 in employer-paid health insurance premiums, and (ii) $11,000 in
employer-matching contributions under our 401(k) savings plan. |
|
(3) |
|
Includes (i) $12,471 in employer-paid health insurance premiums, and (ii) $11,000 in
employer-matching contributions under our 401(k) savings plan. |
|
(4) |
|
Includes (i) $8,409 in employer-paid health insurance premiums, and (ii) $11,000 in
employer-matching contributions under our 401(k) savings plan. |
|
(5) |
|
Includes (i) $4,176 in employer-paid health insurance premiums, and (ii) $11,000 in
employer-matching contributions under our 401(k) savings plan. |
|
(6) |
|
Aggregate deferrals by Mr. Martineau, Mr. Harlan, Mr. Thomas Albanese and Mr. William
Albanese of amounts included in the Salary column are disclosed in the Nonqualified
Deferred Compensation Table below. |
|
(7) |
|
Amounts were calculated pursuant to SFAS No. 123(R), Share-Based Payment, issued by the
Financial Accounting Standards Board. For financial statement reporting purposes, we
determined the fair value of a stock award on the grant date using the closing market price of
our common stock on the date immediately preceding such grant date. We recognize the fair
value of the award as compensation expense over the requisite service period. The amounts
shown |
28
|
|
|
|
|
in the Restricted Stock Awards column represent the dollar amounts of the 2006 accounting
expense recognized for these awards granted in 2006 and prior years. Therefore, the values
shown in this column are not representative of the amounts that may eventually be realized by
an executive. |
|
(8) |
|
Amounts were calculated pursuant to SFAS No. 123(R). For financial statement reporting
purposes, we determined the fair market value of a stock option award on the grant date using
the closing market price of our common stock on the date immediately preceding the date of the
award. The amounts shown in the Option Awards column represent the dollar amounts of the
2006 accounting expense recognized for these awards granted in prior years. Therefore, the
values shown in this column are not representative of the amounts that may eventually be
realized by an executive. |
|
(9) |
|
Amounts reflect bonuses in 2006 which were paid in March 2007 under our 1999 incentive
plan. |
29
2006 GRANTS OF PLAN-BASED AWARDS TABLE
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Estimated Future Payouts Under |
|
Estimated Future Payouts Under |
|
Grant |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Compensation |
|
Non-Equity Incentive Plan Awards (1) |
|
Equity Incentive Plan Awards (2) |
|
Date Fair Value of |
|
|
Grant |
|
Committee Action |
|
Threshold |
|
Target |
|
Maximum |
|
Threshold |
|
Target |
|
Maximum |
|
Stock and Option |
Name |
|
Date |
|
Date |
|
($) |
|
($) |
|
($) |
|
(#) |
|
(#) |
|
(#) |
|
Awards (3) |
Eugene P.
Martineau |
|
|
3/29/2006 |
|
|
|
3/28/2006 |
|
|
$ |
223,125 |
|
|
$ |
446,250 |
|
|
$ |
892,500 |
|
|
|
20,000 |
|
|
|
40,000 |
|
|
|
80,000 |
|
|
$ |
561,600 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Michael W. Harlan |
|
|
2/28/2006 |
|
|
|
2/13/2006 |
|
|
$ |
109,500 |
|
|
$ |
219,000 |
|
|
$ |
438,000 |
|
|
|
18,250 |
|
|
|
32,500 |
|
|
|
65,000 |
|
|
$ |
337,770 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Robert D. Hardy |
|
|
2/28/2006 |
|
|
|
2/13/2006 |
|
|
$ |
50,000 |
|
|
$ |
100,000 |
|
|
$ |
200,000 |
|
|
|
6,500 |
|
|
|
13,000 |
|
|
|
26,000 |
|
|
$ |
187,650 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
William T. Albanese |
|
|
2/28/2006 |
|
|
|
2/13/2006 |
|
|
$ |
54,896 |
|
|
$ |
109,793 |
|
|
$ |
219,586 |
|
|
|
6,500 |
|
|
|
13,000 |
|
|
|
26,000 |
|
|
$ |
87,570 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thomas J. Albanese |
|
|
2/28/2006 |
|
|
|
2/13/2006 |
|
|
$ |
54,896 |
|
|
$ |
109,793 |
|
|
$ |
219,586 |
|
|
|
6,500 |
|
|
|
13,000 |
|
|
|
26,000 |
|
|
$ |
87,570 |
|
|
|
|
(1) |
|
The Named Executive Officers are eligible to earn annual non-equity incentive
compensation under our short-term incentive plan for each fiscal year based on our achievement
of certain performance measures. The resulting percentage of base pay available for payout
to each participant, excluding participants in our Houston corporate office (including our
chief executive officer, our chief operating officer and our chief financial officer), was
based on the following allocation to specific performance measures: (1) 33.3% was payable
based on our overall EBITDA as compared to budgeted EBITDA, and meeting or exceeding certain
business unit non-financial performance measures, including, but not limited to performance
measures based on safety, customer service, human resources and operations; (2) 33.3% was
payable based on the applicable employees business units EBITDA performance as compared to
budgeted EBITDA; and (3) 33.3% was payable if individual performance measures were satisfied.
Cash bonuses available for payout to the participants located in our Houston corporate office
(including our chief executive officer, chief operating officer and chief financial officer),
pursuant to the plan was based on the following allocation to specific performance measures:
(1) 66.6% was payable based on our overall EBITDA as compared to budgeted EBITDA and meeting
or exceeding certain company non-financial performance measures including, but not limited to
performance measures based on safety, customer service, human resources and operations; and
(2) 33.3% was payable if individual performance measures were satisfied. Target bonus
percentages varied in accordance with an employees level of responsibility. Additionally, in
its discretion, the compensation committee could grant cash bonuses in excess of the amounts
determined pursuant to the plan. In February 2007, participants in the short-term incentive
plan received approximately 60% of their target bonus amount in the aggregate, as we attained
approximately 89.3% of our budgeted EBITDA. The compensation committee also exercised its
discretion in 2007, taking into consideration factors such as the desire to retain key
personnel, the accomplishment of strategic objectives, and recognition of above-average
performance of certain business units, and awarded bonus amounts in addition to the amounts
determined pursuant to the plan. |
|
(2) |
|
Stock awards granted to Named Executive Officers vest in equal installments over a four-year
period from the date of grant. |
|
(3) |
|
The grant date fair value is computed in accordance with SFAS No. 123(R), based on
closing market price of our common stock on the date immediately preceding the date of the award.
The fair market value of the stock awards granted on February 28, 2006 was calculated using the
closing market price of $12.51 on February 27, 2006. The fair market value of the stock award
granted on March 29, 2006 was calculated using the closing price of $14.04 on March 28,
2006. |
30
2006 OUTSTANDING EQUITY AWARDS AT FISCAL YEAR-END TABLE
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Stock Awards |
|
|
Option Awards |
|
|
|
|
|
Market |
|
|
Number of |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Number of |
|
Value of |
|
|
Securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shares or |
|
Shares or |
|
|
Underlying |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Units of |
|
Units of |
|
|
Unexercised |
|
Option |
|
|
|
|
|
Stock That |
|
Stock That |
|
|
Options |
|
Exercise |
|
Option |
|
Have Not |
|
Have Not |
|
|
(#) |
|
Price |
|
Expiration |
|
Vested |
|
Vested |
Name |
|
Exercisable |
|
($) |
|
Date |
|
(#)(1) |
|
($)(2) |
Eugene P. Martineau |
|
|
225,000 |
|
|
$ |
8.00 |
|
|
|
5/25/2009 |
|
|
|
104,375 |
|
|
$ |
743,150 |
|
|
|
|
90,000 |
|
|
|
8.00 |
|
|
|
3/2/2010 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
100,000 |
|
|
|
7.00 |
|
|
|
3/15/2011 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
100,000 |
|
|
|
6.27 |
|
|
|
2/29/2012 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Michael W. Harlan |
|
|
175,000 |
|
|
$ |
8.00 |
|
|
|
5/25/2009 |
|
|
|
73,875 |
|
|
$ |
525,990 |
|
|
|
|
70,000 |
|
|
|
8.00 |
|
|
|
3/2/2010 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
60,000 |
|
|
|
7.00 |
|
|
|
3/15/2011 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
80,000 |
|
|
|
6.27 |
|
|
|
2/29/2012 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Robert D. Hardy |
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
N/A |
|
|
|
N/A |
|
|
|
40,000 |
|
|
$ |
284,800 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
William T. Albanese |
|
|
25,000 |
|
|
$ |
7.00 |
|
|
|
3/15/2011 |
|
|
|
18,500 |
|
|
$ |
131,720 |
|
|
|
|
25,000 |
|
|
|
6.27 |
|
|
|
2/29/2012 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thomas J. Albanese |
|
|
25,000 |
|
|
$ |
7.00 |
|
|
|
3/15/2011 |
|
|
|
18,500 |
|
|
$ |
131,720 |
|
|
|
|
25,000 |
|
|
|
6.27 |
|
|
|
2/29/2012 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(1) |
|
The unvested stock awards become vested as follows: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Name |
|
3/1/07 |
|
5/1/07 |
|
11/1/07 |
|
3/1/08 |
|
5/1/08 |
|
11/1/08 |
|
3/1/09 |
|
5/1/09 |
|
3/1/10 |
Mr. Martineau |
|
|
10,000 |
|
|
|
26,875 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
10,000 |
|
|
|
26,875 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
10,000 |
|
|
|
10,625 |
|
|
|
10,625 |
|
Mr. Harlan |
|
|
6,750 |
|
|
|
19,375 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6,750 |
|
|
|
19,375 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6,750 |
|
|
|
6,750 |
|
|
|
6,750 |
|
Mr. Hardy |
|
|
3,750 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
12,500 |
|
|
|
3,750 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
12,500 |
|
|
|
3,750 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3,750 |
|
Mr. William Albanese |
|
|
1,750 |
|
|
|
4,250 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1,750 |
|
|
|
4,250 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1,750 |
|
|
|
3,000 |
|
|
|
1,750 |
|
Mr. Thomas Albanese |
|
|
1,750 |
|
|
|
4,250 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1,750 |
|
|
|
4,250 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1,750 |
|
|
|
3,000 |
|
|
|
1,750 |
|
|
|
|
(2) |
|
The market value of the shares that have not vested is calculated using the closing market
price of our common stock at the end of our last completed fiscal year. Accordingly, the
value was determined based on the closing market price of our common stock on the Nasdaq as of
December 29, 2006, the last trading day of 2006, which was $7.12. |
31
2006 OPTION EXERCISES AND STOCK VESTED TABLE
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Option Awards |
|
Stock Awards |
|
|
Number of Shares |
|
Value Realized |
|
Number of Shares |
|
Value Realized |
|
|
Acquired on Exercise |
|
on Exercise |
|
Acquired on Vesting |
|
on Vesting |
Name |
|
(#) |
|
($) |
|
(#) |
|
($) |
Eugene P. Martineau (1) |
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
26,875 |
|
|
$ |
368,725 |
|
|
Michael W. Harlan (2) |
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
19,375 |
|
|
$ |
265,825 |
|
|
Robert D. Hardy (3) |
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
12,500 |
|
|
$ |
79,000 |
|
|
William T. Albanese (4) |
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
7,028 |
|
|
$ |
75,256 |
|
|
Thomas J. Albanese (5) |
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
7,028 |
|
|
$ |
75,256 |
|
|
|
|
(1) |
|
Mr. Martineau acquired unrestricted beneficial ownership of 26,875 shares with a
market price of $13.72 on May 1, 2006, upon the lapse of restrictions on shares of restricted
stock. |
|
(2) |
|
Mr. Harlan acquired unrestricted beneficial ownership of 19,375 shares with a market price of
$13.72 on May 1, 2006, upon the lapse of restrictions on shares of restricted stock. |
|
(3) |
|
Mr. Hardy acquired unrestricted beneficial ownership of 12,500 shares with a market price of
$6.32 on November 1, 2006, upon the lapse of restrictions on shares of restricted stock. |
|
(4) |
|
Mr. William Albanese acquired unrestricted beneficial ownership of 4,250 shares with a market
price of $13.72 on May 1, 2006 and 2,778 shares with a market price of $6.10 on September 22,
2006, upon the lapse of restrictions on shares of restricted stock. |
|
(5) |
|
Mr. Thomas Albanese acquired unrestricted beneficial ownership of 4,250 shares with a market
price of $13.72 on May 1, 2006 and 2,778 shares with a market price of $6.10 on September 22,
2006, upon the lapse of restrictions on shares of restricted stock. |
32
2006 NONQUALIFIED DEFERRED COMPENSATION TABLE
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Registrant |
|
|
|
|
|
Aggregate |
|
|
|
|
Executive Contributions |
|
Contributions in Last |
|
Aggregate Earnings |
|
Withdrawals / |
|
Aggregate Balance at |
|
|
in Last Fiscal Year |
|
Fiscal Year |
|
in Last Fiscal Year |
|
Distributions |
|
Last Fiscal Year-End |
Name (4) |
|
($) (3) |
|
($) |
|
($) |
|
($) |
|
($) |
Eugene P. Martineau (1) |
|
$ |
53,373 |
|
|
$ |
0 |
|
|
$ |
17,351 |
|
|
$ |
0 |
|
|
$ |
220,573 |
|
|
Michael W. Harlan (2) |
|
$ |
30,225 |
|
|
$ |
0 |
|
|
$ |
9,546 |
|
|
$ |
0 |
|
|
$ |
78,086 |
|
|
William T. Albanese |
|
$ |
20,112 |
|
|
$ |
0 |
|
|
$ |
1,606 |
|
|
$ |
0 |
|
|
$ |
39,887 |
|
|
Thomas J. Albanese |
|
$ |
20,112 |
|
|
$ |
0 |
|
|
($ |
19,263 |
) |
|
$ |
0 |
|
|
$ |
19,018 |
|
|
|
|
(1) |
|
The deferred compensation of Mr. Martineau was not included in his base salary in
the summary compensation table included in the proxy statement relating to our 2006 annual
meeting of stockholders. |
|
(2) |
|
The deferred compensation of Mr. Harlan was not included in his base salary in the summary
compensation table included in the proxy statement relating to our 2006 annual meeting of
stockholders. |
|
(3) |
|
Represents contributions under the deferred compensation plan. Such contributions are
included under the appropriate Salary column in the 2006 Summary Compensation Table above.
Under the deferred compensation plan, Mr. Martineau, Mr. Harlan, Mr. Thomas Albanese and Mr.
William Albanese may elect to defer up to 6% of their compensation which otherwise would have
been paid to them. |
|
(4) |
|
Mr. Hardy was not eligible to participate in the defined compensation plan. |
33
CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
Pursuant to our Code of Ethics and Business Conduct, all employees (including our NEOs)
who have, or whose immediate family members have, any direct or indirect financial or other
participation in any business that competes with, supplies goods or services to, or is a customer
of U.S. Concrete, are required to disclose to our Chief Executive Officer or General Counsel prior
to transacting such business. Our employees are expected to make reasoned and impartial decisions
in the work-place. As a result, approval of related-party business will be denied if we believe
that an employees interest in such business could influence decisions relative to our business, or
have the potential to adversely affect our business or the objective performance of the employees
work. Our Board members are also responsible for complying with our Code of Ethics and Business
Conduct, which is in writing and is available on our Web site at www.us-concrete.com under Investor
Relations Corporate Governance. You may also obtain a written copy by making a request to our
Corporate Secretary by mail at U.S. Concrete, Inc., 2925 Briarpark Drive, Suite 1050, Houston,
Texas 77042 or by phone by calling (713) 499-6200.
On completion of our initial public offering in 1999, we entered into new facilities
leases, or extended existing leases, with former stockholders or affiliates of former stockholders
of several of our newly acquired subsidiaries, including, Central Concrete Supply Co., Inc.
(Central) Those leases generally provide for initial lease terms of 15 to 20 years, with one or
more extension options we may exercise. William T. Albanese and Thomas J. Albanese, each a former
owner of Central, are executive officers of U.S. Concrete. The leases with Central relate to two
facilities and provide for aggregate annual rentals of $326,000. We believe the rentals we must
pay under each of these leases are at fair market rates.
Central sold concrete and building materials to its customer, Devcon Construction, for the
construction of the Campo di Bocce in Livermore, California, a restaurant and entertainment venue
of which Thomas J. Albanese is a 42% owner. Total gross sales to Devcon for this project were
$170,061. In addition, with respect to this project, Central also sold building materials to a
company owned by Joseph J. Albanese, a cousin of William T. Albanese and Thomas J. Albanese,
totaling approximately $12,443 in 2006.
Central employed Lauren Cerrito, the daughter of William T. Albanese during 2006. Central
paid Mrs. Cerrito an aggregate of $235,245 in salary, bonus compensation and 401(k) plan matching
contributions in 2006. In 2006, we granted to Mrs. Cerrito 2,000 shares of our restricted common
stock, which vest in four equal annual installments beginning in March 2007. We granted those
restricted shares on the same terms and conditions as the restricted shares we granted to other
employees in 2006.
Our subsidiary, Superior Concrete Materials, Inc., employed Todd Martineau, the son of Eugene
P. Martineau, during 2006. Superior paid Todd Martineau an aggregate of $114,792 in salary, bonus
compensation and 401(k) plan matching contributions in 2006. In 2006, we granted to Todd Martineau
800 restricted shares. We granted those restricted shares on the same terms and conditions as the
restricted shares we granted to other employees in 2006.
SECTION 16(a) BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP REPORTING COMPLIANCE
Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 requires our directors, executive
officers and any persons beneficially owning more than 10% of our common stock to report their
initial ownership of common stock and any subsequent changes in that ownership to the SEC. SEC
rules establish due dates for these reports, and we are required to disclose in this proxy
statement any failure to file by those dates. All required 2006 filings were made on a timely
basis. A former officer of our company made one filing that was not required, and, if that filing
had been required, it would not have been timely made. In making these disclosures, we relied
solely on written statements of directors, executive officers and stockholders and copies of the
reports they have filed with the SEC.
34
REPORT OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE
To the Board of Directors of U.S. Concrete, Inc.:
We have reviewed and discussed with management U.S. Concretes audited financial statements as
of and for the year ended December 31, 2006.
In addition, we have discussed with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, U.S. Concretes independent
registered public accounting firm, the matters required to be discussed by Statement of Auditing
Standards No. 61, Communication with Audit Committees, as amended, issued by the Auditing
Standards Board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. We have also reviewed
and discussed with management and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP managements report and
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLPs report and attestation on U.S. Concretes internal control over
financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
We have received and reviewed the written disclosures and the letter from
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP required by Independent Standards Boards Standard No. 1, Independence
Discussions with Audit Committees, as amended, and we have discussed with that firm its
independence from U.S. Concrete. In addition, we concluded that PricewaterhouseCoopers LLPs
provision of services that are not related to the audit of U.S. Concretes financial statements was
compatible with that firms independence from U.S. Concrete.
Based on the reviews and discussions referred to above, we recommended to the Board of
Directors of U.S. Concrete that the audited financial statements referred to above be included in
U.S. Concretes annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006 for filing with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Audit Committee
Mary P. Ricciardello, Chairperson
Vincent D. Foster
Murray S. Simpson
35
PROPOSAL NO. 2
RATIFICATION OF APPOINTMENT OF
INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
The audit committee of our Board has selected PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP to serve as our
independent registered public accounting firm for the year ending December 31, 2007.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP has audited our financial statements since May 16, 2002. Although we are
not required to seek your approval of this appointment, it is customary practice to do so. No
determination has been made as to what action the audit committee and the Board would take if you
fail to ratify the appointment. Even if the appointment is ratified, the audit committee retains
discretion to appoint a new independent audit firm if the audit committee concludes such a change
would be in the best interests of U.S. Concrete. We expect representatives of
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP to be present at the meeting and available to respond to appropriate
questions by stockholders. They will have the opportunity to make a statement if they so desire.
Assuming the presence of a quorum, the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast on the
proposal is necessary to ratify the selection of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as our independent
registered public accounting firm for the year ending December 31, 2007. The enclosed form of proxy
provides a means for you to vote for the ratification of the selection of independent registered
public accounting firm, to vote against it or to abstain from voting for or against it. If you
execute and return a proxy, but do not specify how to vote the shares represented by your proxy,
the persons named as proxies will vote FOR the ratification of the selection of
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm. Assuming the
presence of a quorum, in determining whether this item has received the requisite number of
affirmative votes, abstentions and broker non-votes will not affect the vote.
Our Board recommends a vote FOR the ratification of the appointment of
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for 2007.
Fees Incurred by U.S. Concrete to Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
The following table sets forth the fees we incurred for services provided by our independent
registered public accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, during 2006 and 2005.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fee Category |
|
2006 |
|
|
2005 |
|
Audit Fees (1) |
|
$ |
957,200 |
|
|
$ |
732,200 |
|
Audit-Related Fees |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tax Fees |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
All Other Fees (2) |
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2,399 |
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1,999 |
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Total |
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$ |
959,599 |
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$ |
734,199 |
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(1) |
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Audit fees relate to professional services rendered in connection with the audit of
our annual financial statements, quarterly review of financial statements included in our
Forms 10-Q and audit services provided in connection with other statutory and regulatory
filings. 2006 audit fees include fees for professional services rendered in connection with
our offering of seven million shares of common stock and our offering of $85 million of senior
subordinated notes. |
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(2) |
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All other fees consist of fees for products and services other than the services reported
above. In 2006 and 2005, these fees consisted of licensing fees for accounting research
software. |
Policy on Pre-Approval by Audit Committee of Services Performed by Independent Auditors
The audit committees policy is to pre-approve all audit and permissible non-audit services
provided by the independent auditors. The audit committee generally will pre-approve specific audit services
for the upcoming or current fiscal year, subject to a specified cost level. Any service that is not
included among the pre-approved audit services and any non-audit service must be separately
pre-approved by the Audit Committee Chairperson. The Chairperson reports any pre-approval decisions
to the audit committee at its next scheduled meeting. The audit committee does not delegate to
management any of its responsibilities to pre-approve services performed by our independent
auditors.
None of the services related to the audit-related fees or other fees described above was
approved by the audit committee pursuant to the waiver of pre-approval provisions set forth in
applicable rules of the SEC.
36
EXPENSES RELATING TO THIS PROXY SOLICITATION
We will pay all expenses relating to this proxy solicitation. In addition to this solicitation
by mail, our officers, directors and regular employees may solicit proxies by telephone without
extra compensation for that activity. We also expect to reimburse banks, brokers and other persons
for reasonable out-of-pocket expenses in forwarding proxy material to beneficial owners of our
common stock and obtaining the proxies of those owners.
OTHER INFORMATION
Date for Submission of Stockholder Proposals
Under rules the SEC has established, any stockholder who wishes to have a qualified proposal
considered for inclusion in our proxy statement for our 2008 Annual Meeting of Stockholders must
send notice of the proposal to our Corporate Secretary at our principal executive offices, 2925
Briarpark Drive, Suite 1050, Houston, Texas 77042, so that we receive that notice by no later than
the close of business on December 28, 2007. If you submit a stockholder proposal, you must provide
your name and address, the number of shares of common stock you hold of record or beneficially, the
date or dates on which you acquired those shares and documentary support for any claim of
beneficial ownership.
In addition, our bylaws establish an advance-notice procedure for stockholder proposals to be
brought before an annual meeting. The procedure provides that stockholders must submit proposals to
us in writing containing certain information specified in our bylaws no earlier than the
180 th day and no later than the close of business on the 90
th day prior to the first anniversary of our preceding years annual meeting. These
requirements are in addition to the SECs requirements with which a stockholder must comply to have
a stockholder proposal included in our proxy statement. Stockholders may obtain a copy of our
bylaws by making a written request to our Corporate Secretary.
Under these bylaw provisions, we must receive stockholder proposals for our 2008 Annual
Meeting of Stockholders no earlier than November 26, 2007 and no later than the close of business
on February 24, 2008. Stockholders must deliver the proposals to Corporate Secretary, U.S.
Concrete, Inc., 2925 Briarpark Drive, Suite 1050, Houston, Texas 77042.
We received no stockholder proposals and no stockholder director nominations for the 2007
Annual Meeting of Stockholders.
Householding of Annual Meeting Materials
In accordance with notices previously sent to many stockholders who hold their shares through
a bank, broker or other holder of record (street-name stockholders) and share a single address,
only one annual report and proxy statement is being delivered to that address unless contrary
instructions from any stockholder at that address were received. This practice, known as
householding, is intended to reduce our printing and postage costs. However, any such street-name
stockholder residing at the same address who wishes to receive a separate copy of this proxy
statement or the accompanying annual report to stockholders may request a copy by contacting the
bank, broker or other holder of record, or by contacting us by telephone at 713-499-6200, by e-mail
to corporatesecretary@us-concrete.com or by mail to: U.S. Concrete, Inc., 2925 Briarpark Drive,
Suite 1050, Houston, Texas 77042, Attention: Corporate Secretary. The voting instruction sent to a
street-name stockholder should provide information on how to request (1) householding of our future
materials or (2) separate materials if only one set of documents is being sent to a household. If
it does not, a stockholder who would like to make one of these requests should contact us as
indicated above.
37
Other Matters
The Board of Directors does not intend to bring any other matters before the annual meeting
and has not been informed that any other matters are to be presented by others. If any other
matters properly come before the annual meeting, the persons named in the enclosed form of proxy
will vote all proxies according to their best judgment. The form of proxy provides that the persons
named as proxies have discretionary authority to vote on matters not known or determined on the
date of this proxy statement.
By Order of the Board of Directors,
/s/ Curt M. Lindeman
Curt M. Lindeman
Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
Houston, Texas
April 26, 2007
38
U.S. CONCRETE, INC.
PROXY FOR THE ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS
TO BE HELD ON MAY 24, 2007
THIS PROXY IS SOLICITED ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF U.S. CONCRETE, INC.
The undersigned hereby appoints Michael W. Harlan and Curt M. Lindeman, and each of them, with full
power of substitution and resubstitution, to represent the undersigned and to vote all the shares
of Common Stock in U.S. Concrete, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the Company), which the
undersigned is entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting of Stockholders of the Company to be held on
May 24, 2007 and at any adjournment or postponement thereof (1) as hereinafter specified upon the
proposals listed on the reverse side and as more particularly described in the Proxy Statement of
the Company dated April 26, 2007 (the Proxy Statement) and (2) in their discretion upon such
other matters as may properly come before the meeting.
ALL SHARES OF COMMON STOCK REPRESENTED HEREBY WILL BE VOTED AS SPECIFIED. IF NO SPECIFICATION IS
MADE, THOSE SHARES WILL BE VOTED FOR THE NOMINEES LISTED IN PROPOSAL NO. 1. THOSE SHARES ALSO WILL
BE VOTED FOR PROPOSAL NO. 2.
(If you noted any Address Changes above, please mark the corresponding box on the reverse side.)
(Continued and to be signed on the reverse side).
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C\O AMERICAN STOCK TRANSFER
& TRUST COMPANY
6201 15TH AVE., 2ND FLOOR
BROOKLYN, NY 11219
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VOTE BY MAIL
Mark, sign and date your proxy card and return
it in the postage-paid envelope we have
provided or return it to U.S. Concrete, Inc.,
c/o Broadridge, 51 Mercedes Way, Edgewood, NY 11717.
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AUTO DATA PROCESSING
INVESTOR COMM SERVICES
ATTENTION:
TEST PRINT
51 MERCEDES WAY
EDGEWOOD, NY
11717
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NAME
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U S CONCRETE INC
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123,456,789,012.12345 |
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U S CONCRETE INC
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123,456,789,012.12345 |
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U S CONCRETE INC
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123,456,789,012.12345 |
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U S CONCRETE INC
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123,456,789,012.12345 |
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U S CONCRETE INC
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123,456,789,012.12345 |
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U S CONCRETE INC
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123,456,789,012.12345 |
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U S CONCRETE INC
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123,456,789,012.12345 |
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U S CONCRETE INC
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123,456,789,012.12345 |
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PAGE
1 OF 2
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TO VOTE, MARK BLOCKS BELOW IN BLUE OR BLACK INK AS FOLLOWS:
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USCON1
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KEEP THIS PORTION FOR YOUR RECORDS |
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DETACH AND RETURN THIS PORTION ONLY |
THIS PROXY CARD IS VALID ONLY WHEN SIGNED AND DATED.
U.S. CONCRETE, INC.
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Vote on Proposals |
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02 |
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0000000000 214853454031
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PROPOSAL NO. 1 Elect the seven
persons listed below to serve
as directors until the next
Annual Meeting of Stockholders
and until their respective
successors are duly elected and
qualified. |
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For
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Withhold
All |
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For All
Except |
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To withhold authority to vote for any individual
nominee(s), mark For All Except and write the
number(s) of the nominee(s) on the line below. |
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NOMINEES:
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01) John M. Piecuch
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02) T. William Porter, III |
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03) Michael W. Harlan |
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04) Vincent D. Foster |
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05) Mary P. Ricciardello |
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06) Murray S. Simpson |
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07) Robert S. Walker |
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For |
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Abstain |
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PROPOSAL NO. 2 Ratify the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
as the Companys independent registered public accounting firm for the year
ending December 31, 2007.
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In their discretion, the proxies are authorized to vote on such other matters as
may properly come before the meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof,
including procedural and other matters relating to the conduct of the meeting. |
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For address changes, please check this box and write
them on the back where indicated.
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The undersigned hereby revokes all previous proxies given by the undersigned with respect to the
shares represented hereby in connection with the Companys 2007 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.
This Proxy may be revoked at any time prior to a vote thereon. Receipt of the accompanying Proxy
Statement and Annual Report of the Company for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2006 is hereby
acknowledged. |
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Please sign exactly as your name appears hereon. When shares are held by joint tenants, both should
sign. When signing as attorney, executor, administrator, trustee, guardian or other similar
capacity, please give your full title as such. If a corporation, please sign in full corporate name
by the President or other authorized officer. If a partnership, please sign in partnership name by
an authorized person. |
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123,456,789,012 |
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90333LB99 |
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P42353
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15 |
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Signature [PLEASE SIGN WITHIN BOX]
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Date
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Signature (Joint Owners)
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Date |
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