RALEIGH, NC – Peter Karmanos Jr., Chief Executive Officer, Owner and Governor of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that four new partners have joined in the ownership of the team. Epic Games Vice President and Co-Founder Mark Rein and his wife Tara, and PITT OHIO President and Owner Chuck Hammel join Hurricanes Holdings, along with two other investors who have chosen to keep their partnerships private.

“The continuing growth of our ownership group strengthens the Carolina Hurricanes’ position on the Triangle landscape and will help the team be competitive on the ice,” said Karmanos. “I am pleased to welcome Mark and Tara Rein, Chuck Hammel and the others to the Hurricanes family.”

Mark Rein is the vice president and co-founder of Epic Games, a video game development company based in Cary, NC. Epic Games is well known for the creation of the Unreal Engine technology, which powered the Unreal series of first-person shooters, the Infinity Blade series for mobile platforms as well as the Gears of War series for Xbox 360. The company, which was established in 1991, moved its headquarters to the Triangle in 1999, and today has more than 250 employees worldwide. Originally from Toronto, Rein and his wife, Tara, live in Raleigh with their three children.

Chuck Hammel is President and owner of PITT OHIO, a successful regional transportation company. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, PITT OHIO operates in 10 states, with 21 terminals and more than 2,600 employees, and provides its customers with the most reliable service the less-than-truckload (LTL) industry has to offer. Hammel is also highly involved in his community, serving on the Board of Directors for the Pittsburgh Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Allegheny Conference on Community Development and Riverlife, as well as on the Board of Trustees for the Senator John Heinz History Center. He is a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Business Advisory Council, Mayor’s Economic Development Panel, Allegheny County Transportation Vision Team and Duquense Club. Chuck and his wife, Kristen, have four boys and live in Sewickley, PA, a suburb of Pittsburgh.