Blyth, Inc. Elects Ilan Kaufthal to Board of Directors GREENWICH, Conn., Feb. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Blyth, Inc. (NYSE: BTH), a leading designer and marketer of candles, accessories for the home and wellness products sold through the direct selling and direct marketing channels, today announced the election of Ilan Kaufthal to its Board of Directors. Mr. Kaufthal is a senior advisor at Irving Place Capital, a middle-market private equity firm based in New York City. Prior to joining Irving Place Capital in 2008, Mr. Kaufthal spent 8 years at Bear, Stearns & Company as Vice Chairman of Investment Banking. Prior to that he led mergers and acquisitions in investment banking as Vice Chairman of Schroder & Co for 13 years. Mr. Kaufthal currently serves on the Board of Directors for Tronox Incorporated, Cambrex and Edmunds.com. He is also Chairman at East Wind Advisors, an investment banking advisory firm. Mr. Kaufthal is a longtime supporter of numerous philanthropic institutions. He is currently Chairman of the Board of Friends of Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, and he serves on the Board of Trustees of the Russell Berrie Foundation, the Ramaz School in New York City and the Board of Visitors of the Columbia University Medical Center. He is a graduate of Columbia University and the New York University Graduate School of Business Administration. Robert B. Goergen, Blyth's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said of Mr. Kaufthal's appointment, "Ilan brings years of industry-relevant investment banking and management experience to Blyth. His unique perspective will be a valuable asset in our future operations and strategic efforts. Blyth, Inc., headquartered in Greenwich, CT, USA, is a multi-channel company primarily focused on direct selling. We design and market home fragrance products and decorative accessories, as well as weight management products, nutritional supplements and energy drink mixes. These products are sold through the home party plan method of direct selling and through network marketing, respectively. The Company also designs and markets household convenience items and personalized gifts through the catalog/internet channel, as well as tabletop lighting and chafing fuel for the foodservice trade. The Company manufactures most of its candles and chafing fuel and sources nearly all of its other products. Its products are sold direct to the consumer under the PartyLite®, Two Sisters Gourmet® by PartyLite and ViSalus Sciences® brands, to consumers in the catalog/Internet channel under the As We Change®, Miles Kimball®, Exposures®, Walter Drake® and Easy Comforts®, and to the Foodservice industry under the Sterno®, Ambria® and HandyFuel® brands. In Europe, Blyth's products are also sold under the PartyLite brand. Blyth, Inc. may be found on the Internet at www.blyth.com. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance and underlying assumptions and other statements that are other than statements of historical facts. Actual results could differ materially due to various factors, including the slowing of the United States or European economies or retail environments, the risk that we will be unable to maintain our historic growth rate, our ability to respond appropriately to changes in product demand, the risk that we will be unable to integrate the businesses that we acquire into our existing operations, the risks (including foreign currency fluctuations, economic and political instability, transportation delays, difficulty in maintaining quality control, trade and foreign tax laws and others) associated with international sales and foreign sourced products, risks associated with our ability to recruit new independent sales consultants, our dependence on key corporate management personnel, risks associated with the sourcing of raw materials for our products, competition in terms of price and new product introductions, risks associated with our information technology systems (including, susceptibility to outages due to fire, floods, power loss, telecommunications failures, computer viruses, break-ins and similar events) and other factors described in this press release and in the Company's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K.