Electronic Clearing House, Inc., a leading provider of electronic payment and transaction processing services, announced the appointment of Shawn Alikian as in-house General Counsel.
Mr. Alikian served as division counsel and vice president of corporate development for Homestore, Inc., Westlake Village, California, where he was a legal strategist and executive responsible for business transactions, corporate matters and legal issues. Earlier in his legal career, Mr. Alikian was a corporate and business transaction attorney for Sideman & Bancroft LLP, San Francisco, California, and a business transaction and litigation attorney for Lang, Richert & Patch, Fresno, California.
Mr. Alikian holds a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, an MBA from Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, and a Bachelor of Arts, Business Economics from University of California at Los Angeles.
“We are delighted to welcome Shawn to our executive team,” stated Chuck Harris, President and Chief Operating Officer of ECHO. “Shawn brings impressive credentials in corporate counsel and legal strategy, and his perspectives will add a positive dimension to our business operations.”
As an inducement to Mr. Alikian’s decision to enter into employment with ECHO, the Company entered into a restricted stock grant agreement whereby Mr. Alikian was issued 10,000 shares of restricted stock. The shares vest over a period of five years, with 2,000 shares vesting on the first anniversary of the effective date of the restricted stock grant agreement, and the remainder vesting annually over a period of four years. The vesting provisions accelerate to the extent ECHO is acquired, merges with another company, sells all or substantially all of its assets, or otherwise enters into another similar transaction, in each case as set forth in the restricted stock grant agreement. Mr. Alikian will forfeit any portion of the shares not vested at the time that he ceases providing services to ECHO. The grant of shares was approved by the Compensation Committee of ECHO’s Board of Directors.
About Electronic Clearing House, Inc. (ECHO)
ECHO (www.echo-inc.com) provides a complete solution to the payment processing needs of merchants, technology companies, banks and collection agencies. ECHO’s services include debit and credit card processing, check guarantee, check verification, check conversion, check re-presentment, and check collection.
