STELLARTON, NS, Oct. 12, 2016 /CNW/ - The Board of Directors of Empire Company Limited today announced the appointment of James M. Dickson as Chair of the Board of Directors. Mr. Dickson replaces Robert P. Dexter who announced his intention to retire both as Chair and as a member of Empire's Board at the company's annual general meeting on September 15.

Mr. Dickson joined the Empire Board in September 2015. Mr. Dickson is also a Director of Clearwater Seafoods Incorporated and Chair of the Board of Regents of Mount Allison University.

After a distinguished career at the law firm Stewart McKelvey where he practiced primarily in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and securities for more than 20 years and chaired the firm for several years, Mr. Dickson retired from the partnership and became counsel to the firm earlier this year. He has business operations experience in both the energy sector and food retail, through roles earlier in his career at Gulf Canada and Sobeys.

Mr. Dickson holds a Certificate in Engineering from Mount Allison University, a Bachelor of Civil Engineering from the Technical University of Nova Scotia and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Calgary. He is a professional engineer and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 2010.

"Jim's background and track record in representing and advising some of Canada's best- known and successful companies combined with his governance experience in serving on the boards of publicly traded companies as well as one of our country's most respected post secondary institutions, makes him ideally suited to assume the role as Chair of the Empire Board," said Kevin Lynch, Chair of the Empire Board's Corporate Governance and Nominating Committees.

Donald R. Sobey, Chair Emeritus of Empire Company Limited praised Mr. Dexter for his service to company shareholders over the past three decades:

"In the 29 years that Rob has served on the Empire Board, the past 12 as Chair, he has played a pivotal role in some of the most important decisions leading to the company's significant growth. His outstanding contributions, wise counsel and commitment to strong governance have been the foundation of his service both as a Director and as Chair of the Board."

ABOUT EMPIRE

Empire Company Limited (TSX: EMP.A) is a Canadian company headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia.  Empire's key businesses are food retailing and related real estate.  With approximately $24.6 billion in annualized sales and $8.8 billion in assets, Empire and its subsidiaries, franchisees and affiliates employ approximately 125,000 people.

SOURCE Empire Company Limited

Image with caption: "James M. Dickson (CNW Group/Empire Company Limited)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20161012_C4257_PHOTO_EN_794578.jpg