Latham Group, Inc.
For the period ended May 1, 2025. Filed Mar 21, 2025.
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What shareholders are asked to vote on at a company's meeting. It is where to find what directors and top executives are paid, and who owns the most shares.
May 1, 2025 · Filed Mar 21, 2025
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Contents
Proxy Summary
This proxy statement is furnished to stockholders of Latham Group, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), in connection with the solicitation of proxies by our board of directors (our “Board”) for use at our 2025 Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held on Thursday, May 1, 2025 (the “Annual Meeting”), and at any adjournment or postponement thereof.
We are making this proxy statement and our annual report to stockholders for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024 (the “Annual Report”) available to our stockholders electronically via the Internet atwww.proxyvote.com. On or about March 21, 2025, we mailed to our stockholders a Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials (the “Internet Notice”) containing instructions on how to access this proxy statement and vote online or by telephone.
This proxy summary highlights information contained elsewhere in this proxy statement for our Annual Meeting. This proxy summary does not contain all of the information that you should consider, and you should read the entire proxy statement before voting. For more complete information regarding the 2024 operational and financial performance of Latham, you should review our Annual Report.
Annual Meeting Information
| | Meeting Date | | | Time | | | Location | | | Record Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Thursday, May 1, 2025 | | | 8:00 a.m. EDT | | | The Adelphi Hotel,365 Broadway,Saratoga Springs,NY 12866 | | | March 5, 2025 | |
Voting Methods Prior to Annual Meeting
Your vote is important. Whether or not you plan to attend our Annual Meeting, we urge you to vote promptly to save us the expense of additional solicitation. Please carefully review the proxy materials and cast your vote on all of the proposals.
If you are a record holder, you may vote using one of the following methods. If you are a beneficial owner, you may vote using one of the methods listed on your voting instruction card. Make sure to have your Internet Notice, proxy card or voting instruction card and follow the instructions.
| | Internet | | | By Phone | | | By Mail | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | www.proxyvote.com | | | 1-800-690-6903 | | | Request a printed copy of the proxy materials and complete, sign and return your proxy card or voting instruction card | |
Business Overview
Latham Group, Inc., headquartered in Latham, New York, is the largest designer, manufacturer and marketer of in-ground residential swimming pools in North America, Australia and New Zealand. With an operating history that spans over 65 years, we offer the industry’s broadest portfolio of pools and related products, including fiberglass pools, packaged pools, pool liners and pool covers. We hold the #1 position in North America in every product category in which we compete. We believe that we are the most sought-after brand in the pool industry and the only pool company that has established a direct relationship with the homeowner. We are Latham, The Pool Company™.
We have a heritage of innovation. In an industry that has traditionally marketed on a business-to-business basis (pool manufacturer to dealer), we pioneered the first “direct-to-homeowner” digital and social
| | | | 2025 Proxy Statement 1 | |
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marketing strategy that has transformed the homeowner’s purchase journey. Through this marketing strategy, we are able to create demand for our pools and generate and provide high quality, purchase-ready consumer leads to our dealer partners.
Partnership with our dealers is integral to our collective success, and we have enjoyed long-tenured relationships averaging over 14 years. We support our dealer network with business development tools, co-branded marketing programs and in-house training, as well as an operations platform consisting of approximately 1,817 full-time employees across over 30 locations as of December 31, 2024. The full resources of the Company are dedicated to designing and manufacturing high-quality pool products with the homeowner in mind, and positioning ourselves as a value-added partner to our dealers.
Proposal One—Election of Class I Directors
| | Board Recommendation | | | Required Vote | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | FOR each nominee | | | Plurality of votes cast | |
Our Board currently consists of eight directors. Following a review of the individual and aggregate qualifications, attributes, skills and experience of Board members, our Board has re-nominated the three Class I directors for election at our Annual Meeting. Our Board believes that the director nominees will continue to collectively serve in the best interests of stockholders and the Company and assist our Board to fulfill its significant oversight role.
Each of the Class I director nominees will serve a three-year term and until a successor has been duly elected and qualified, or until such director’s earlier resignation, retirement or other termination of service.
| | Name and Age | | | DirectorSince | | | Independent | | | Primary or Most Recent Occupation | | | Current BoardCommittee(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | James E. Cline*73 | | | 2020 | | | Yes | | | Former President and Chief Executive Officer, Trex Company, Inc. | | | AuditCompensation | |
| | DeLu Jackson52 | | | 2023 | | | Yes | | | Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, ADT Inc. | | | AuditNominating and Corporate Governance | |
| | Mark P. Laven**71 | | | 2020 | | | Yes | | | Former President and Chief Executive Officer, Latham Pool Products | | | Nominating and Corporate Governance (Chair) | |
Chair of the Board of Directors
Vice Chair of the Board of Directors
| | | | 2025 Proxy Statement 2 | |
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Qualifications, Attributes, Skills and Experience of our Directors
The following table sets forth a summary of key qualifications, attributes, skills and experience that our current directors contribute to our Board.
| · · · · Number of Directors · | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Strategic Growth and M&A Experience | | | | | 8 | | |
| | Senior Leadership or Management Experience | | | | | 7 | | |
| | Finance or Accounting Experience | | | | | 6 | | |
| | Consumer Products Expertise | | | | | 5 | | |
| | Marketing and Brand Management Expertise | | | | | 5 | | |
| | Manufacturing and Supply Chain Experience | | | | | 5 | | |
| | International Business Operations Experience | | | | | 5 | | |
| | Human Capital Management Expertise | | | | | 4 | | |
| | Other Public Company Service | | | | | 4 | | |
| | Risk Management and Compliance Expertise | | | | | 3 | | |
| | Digital Transformations, Technology or Cybersecurity Expertise | | | | | 2 | | |
| | | | 2025 Proxy Statement 3 | |
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Compensation Governance
See “Named Executive Officer Compensation” for a detailed discussion of our compensation program and determinations for our named executive officers in 2024. The following table sets forth a summary of key compensation governance matters for our current program.
| | What We Do | | | What We Don’t Do | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | • Our independent Compensation Committee retains and actively engages with an independent compensation consultant • We use peer group and/or executive compensation survey data, which is reviewed and updated annually, as a component of establishing target annual compensation • Our 2021 Omnibus Plan aligns with stockholder interests and incorporates certain governance best practices, including no automatic annual increase in the share pool without stockholder approval, a minimum vesting period of one year (subject to limited exceptions), no liberal share recycling of stock options or stock appreciation rights (“SARs”), and no liberal change in control definition • We have adopted and applied rigorous, objective financial goals to our incentive programs to align with our business strategy and our stockholders; our Compensation Committee adopted an objective adjustment policy for our incentive programs • Annual equity awards represent a majority of the target annual compensation, a portion with time-based, four-year pro rata vesting (restricted stock units (“RSUs”)) and a portion that is performance-based with three-year cliff vesting (performance stock units (“PSUs”)) • Starting in 2024, we issued PSUs, in furtherance of pay-for-performance objectives • Our incentive programs each have a fixed payout cap of 200% of target • We have an equity grant policy for annual grants • In 2024, we performed a compensation risk assessment, with no material adverse finding • We are party to offer letters with named executive officers, which require restrictive covenants relevant to our business • We apply Clawback Policies for incentive compensation to our executive officers, including a Dodd-Frank compliant policy and a policy to address calculation errors • We utilize stock ownership guidelines for our named executive officers and non-employee directors | | | • No single-trigger vesting of equity awards upon change-in-control • No hedging or pledging of our securities, and no using derivatives • No tax gross-ups upon change-in-control or severance • No guaranteed bonuses, except new hire or severance agreements, and no one-time equity awards, except new hires • No significant perquisites, supplemental benefits, pension plans or defined benefit plans • No repricing/replacing underwater stock options and SARs | |
| | | | 2025 Proxy Statement 4 | |
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2024 Compensation Program
The compensation program for our named executive officers is designed to attract, motivate and retain qualified employees and to provide them incentives to achieve or exceed the Company’s annual operational, financial and strategic goals and to increase long-term stockholder value. As a new public company in 2021, our Compensation Committee continues to evolve our compensation philosophy, policies and practices for our named executive officers. The 2024 compensation program for named executive officers consisted of a base salary, an annual cash bonus opportunity, and annual equity awards (consisting of RSUs and PSUs).
Our Chief Executive Officer’s target annual compensation in 2024 generally was consistent with 2023, including:
A base salary of $465,000.
A target annual cash bonus of 100% of base salary.
Target annual equity awards of 250% of base salary.
Based on Company performance for 2024:
He earned 144.0% of his target annual cash bonus, or $669,600, based on aggregate achievement of Net Sales (50% weighting) and Adjusted EBITDA margin percentage (50% weighting).
He earned 182.3% of his target PSUs, or 221,524 PSUs, based on the Adjusted EBITDA performance measure; the earned PSUs remain subject to cliff vesting on the third anniversary of the grant date.
Key Corporate Governance Highlights
Our Board has taken a reasonable, measured approach in implementing our corporate governance policies and practices in light of our ongoing status as a controlled company and challenging macroeconomic conditions.
| | Our Board recognizes the importance of evolving our corporate governance practices as we become a mature publicly traded company. By no later than our 2028 annual meeting of stockholders, which is seven years following our initial public offering, our Board is committed to effectuate: | |
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| | • Fully independent standing Committees (Audit, Compensation, and Nominating and Corporate Governance)—currently satisfied • A plurality plus resignation policy for uncontested director elections | |
| | | | 2025 Proxy Statement 5 | |
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Key elements of our current governance are set forth below.
| | • Independent, non-executive Chair of Board • Seven of eight independent directors, and fully independent Audit, Compensation and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees • Regular executive sessions of non-management directors, and at least an annual executive session of independent directors • Annual Board and Committee self-evaluations • Significant strategy and risk oversight by Board and Committees • Director onboarding and continuing director education • Annual review of Committee charters and key governance policies | | | • A director retirement provision in our Corporate Governance Guidelines, prohibiting nomination to a new term after age 75 (subject to limited waiver) • Active oversight of cybersecurity, data privacy and related risk mitigation activities, human capital management and ESG initiatives and related public reporting • Highly committed Board, including significant participation and director attendance at Board and Committee meetings • Management and director succession planning • No dual classes of Common Stock (i.e., no unequal voting rights) • No poison pill • No director overboarding • No hedging, short sales or pledging regarding our securities, and no using derivatives | |
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On April 27, 2021, we entered into a stockholders’ agreement (the “Stockholders’ Agreement”) with Pamplona Capital Partners V, L.P., an investment fund (the “Pamplona Fund”) managed by affiliates of Pamplona Capital Management, LLC (together with its respective subsidiaries and affiliates, “Pamplona”), and Wynnchurch Capital Partners IV, L.P. (“Wynnchurch IV”) and WC Partners Executive IV, L.P. (“WC Executive”) (collectively, the “Wynnchurch Funds”), managed by affiliates of Wynnchurch Capital, L.P. (together with its respective subsidiaries and affiliates, “Wynnchurch”). The Stockholders’ Agreement grants Pamplona the right to nominate to our Board a number of designees on a sliding scale depending on Pamplona’s affiliates’ ownership of shares of the Company’s Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share (our “Common Stock” or “shares of Common Stock”). Mr. Dellaquila, Mr. Laven, Mr. Pratt and Mr. Pruellage are the current designees of Pamplona under the Stockholders’ Agreement. Wynnchurch had certain director nomination rights, which they waived beginning in July 2022. For more information, see “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions—Stockholders’ Agreement.” References to our “Principal Stockholders” in this proxy statement refer to the Pamplona Fund, managed by Pamplona, and the Wynnchurch Funds, managed by Wynnchurch.
Environmental, Social and Governance
As a leading global manufacturer of in-ground swimming pools, our ambition is to lead the way towards a more sustainable future for our industry. Since 2021, we have worked with independent consultants to assess and increase our ESG performance, benchmark our efforts against industry peers, establish a comprehensive strategy to manage ESG risks and opportunities and continuously expand disclosure of our ESG program, including through the publication of an annual ESG Report. Seehttps://ir.lathampool.com/esg for more information. See “—Board of Directors and Corporate Governance—Oversight of Environmental, Social and Governance.”
| | | | 2025 Proxy Statement 6 | |
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Proposal Two—Ratification of the Appointment of Deloitte & Touche LLP as Our Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm for 2025
| | Board Recommendation | | | Required Vote | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | FOR | | | Majority of the voting power present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote | |
Our Board is seeking stockholder support to ratify the appointment of Deloitte & Touche LLP (“Deloitte & Touche”) as our independent registered public accounting firm for 2025. Our Audit Committee conducted a competitive process to select an independent registered public accounting firm in 2020, and Deloitte & Touche was selected and appointed at such time. Our Audit Committee has continued its engagement with Deloitte & Touche since such appointment.
| | Our Audit Committee has reappointed Deloitte & Touche as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for the year ending December 31, 2025, including based upon the following factors: | |
|---|---|---|
| | • Efficiencies of continued engagement • Audit effectiveness • Expertise and industry knowledge • External data on audit quality and performance • Reasonableness of fees • Communication • Ratification proposal had strong support at the Company’s 2024 annual meeting | |
| | | | 2025 Proxy Statement 7 | |
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