Viaplay presents proposals for Board of Directors
April 12, 2024
In advance of the Viaplay Group Annual General Meeting of shareholders on May 14th, the Viaplay Group Nomination Committee has proposed the election of Katarina Bonde, Anna Bäck, Erik Forsberg, Andrea Gisle Joosen, Jacques du Puy, Maxime Saada, Didier Stoessel and Annica Witschard as members of the Board of Directors, and the election of Simon Duffy as Chair of the Board of Directors.
Bonde is Chair of the Boards of Directors of Stillfront Group, Mentimeter, Stratsys and Zimpler. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of Mycronic. Katarina was previously CEO of UniSite Software, Managing Director of Captura International, EVP Sales and Marketing at Captura Software, and Sales Director at Dun & Bradstreet.
Bäck is Chair of the Board of Directors of Precis Digital and a member of the Boards of Directors of Nordnet Bank, Permobil, the Swedish Biathlon Association, Systembolaget and Tradera. She was previously CEO of Kivra and Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company.
Forsberg is Chair of the Boards of Directors of LecToGo and Collectia, and a member of the Boards of Directors of Stillfront Group, Enento Group and Deltalite. He was previously CFO of Intrum from 2011 to 2017, and CFO of Cision.
Andrea Gisle Joosen is Chair of the Boards of Directors of Charge Amps and Bilprovningen, and a member of the Boards of Directors of 888 Holdings, Stadium and Logent. She was previously CEO of the Swedish operations of Boxer TV, and Managing Director of the Nordic operations of Panasonic, Chantelle and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
Jacques du Puy is a Member of the Management Board of Canal+ Group and CEO of Canal+ International. He was previously COO of Vetoquinol; CEO, Europe, Africa and Middle East at Bayer CropScience; CEO, Japan and Korea at Aventis CropScience; and CEO, India then Japan at Rhône-Poulenc Agro.
Saada is Chairman and CEO of Canal+ Group. Maxime is also a Member of the Management Board of Vivendi, Chairman and CEO of Dailymotion, Chairman of L’Olympia and Vice President of Lagardère Group. His previous positions at Canal+ Group include Deputy CEO, France; Head of Sales; Head of Marketing; and Head of Strategy.
Stoessel is Chief Investment Officer of PPF Group and CEO of Central European Media Enterprises. Stoessel’s previous roles include CEO of Nova Broadcasting Group, CEO of Apace Media (publ), Global CEO of Corporate Finance at HSBC Investment Bank and Director of Investment Banking at Merrill Lynch International.
Annica Witschard was CEO of Home Credit Vietnam, CEO of Home Credit Philippines and CEO, Nordics for GE Money Bank. Home Credit Group is PPF Group’s consumer finance division. Witschard is a member of the Board of Directors of Sampo Group (publ).
Simon Duffy is Interim Chair of the Viaplay Group Board of Directors and has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2018. He is also Chair of the Boards of Directors of Modern Times Group MTG and YouView TV, and a member of the Board of Directors of Avianca Group International Limited. His previous roles include Executive Chairman of Tradus, Executive Vice-Chair of ntl:Telewest, CEO of ntl and CFO of Orange.
Grégoire Castaing, Chair of the Nomination Committee, commented: “The Committee’s proposals reflect the changes at Viaplay Group over the past year. The new Board is proposed to combine independent professionals and senior representatives of the major shareholders, all of whom are highly experienced and will bring additional insight into the company’s industry and core markets. They all have proven track records and the time available to commit to the development of the business operations and Board processes. The new Board combines diverse and complementary perspectives that will each contribute to the strategic direction and effective governance of Viaplay Group on behalf of all owners and stakeholders.”
Current members of the Board of Directors Anders Borg, Andrew House, Kristina Schauman and Natalie Tydeman have declined to stand for re-election.
The Nomination Committee comprises Castaing, appointed by Groupe Canal+ SA; Filippa Gerstädt, appointed by Nordea Fonder; Brendan Donahue, appointed by PPF Cyprus Management Limited; and Simon Duffy, Interim Chair of the Viaplay Group Board of Directors. The members of the Nomination Committee appointed Castaing as Committee Chair at their first meeting.
The Nomination Committee’s complete proposals will be presented in the Notice convening Viaplay Group’s Annual General Meeting of shareholders.