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23 June 2020
Governance
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Group management and governance strengthened to accelerate a new expansion phase

Committed to a new growth trajectory, Claranova continues its strategy to make the Group a major technology player. To support this new phase, the Group has strengthened its management team and expanded its Board of Directors. The addition of these new experts to the existing teams will help speed up the subsequent growth phases.

Strengthening of the management team

Mr. Sébastien Martin is appointed Executive Vice-President to fully concentrate on the Group’s development projects. Mr. Martin will focus in particular on investor relations to boost the visibility of the Group and the understanding of its growth model.

Mr. Jean-Yves Quentel becomes Group Chief Financial Officer and will now steer Claranova’s financial strategy.
Jean-Yves Quentel has over 25 years’ experience, gained on both sides of the Atlantic, in creating, managing and financing growth and technology companies.

He combines a long career in France and the U.S. in venture capital investment with prestigious funds such as Atlas Venture or Europatweb and extensive operational expertise acquired as Chief Financial Officer of private and listed innovative companies, as well as entrepreneurial experience having founded and helmed Mensia Technologies, among other start-ups.

Appointment of three new directors

Three new directors also join the Board of Directors: Mrs. Joanna Gordon, Mr. Francis Meston and Mr. Jérôme Bichut. Their excellent understanding of technology and finance will bring valuable expertise to the Claranova group.

Mrs. Joanna Gordon specializes in strategic marketing issues and has considerable experience in technology and its ecosystem. She served as Director of Enterprise Strategy at Salesforce and was Head of the Information Technology Industry at the World Economic Forum where she mixed with leaders of the world’s largest groups. Mrs. Gordon founded Transform.AI, the first conference in Europe focused on artificial intelligence, and manages JG Consulting.

Mr. Francis Meston has held key positions in major international technological groups where he developed his expertise, particularly in telecommunications. At Atos Group (CAC40 listed company), he served as Executive Vice-President and member of the Executive Committee, Director of the IMEA (India, Middle East, Africa) division and Group Digital Transformation Officer. He was also head of the global “Consulting & Systems Integration” division. With experience in the technology sector spanning several decades, he was also Vice-President at AT Kearney and Gemini Consulting and CEO of EDS France.

Mr. Jérôme Bichut was for nearly 20 years Managing Director of PSP, one of the largest Canadian pension funds with investments of C$168 billion. Mr. Bichut is a seasoned financial investment professional with unique expertise in international stock markets. He was also a director of the Euronext listed company Korian (market cap of €2.8 billion – SBF 120).
He is currently CEO of the Canadian firm Sélect Consultation, specializing in strategic and asset management consulting.

These three appointments will be submitted to the approval of the Shareholders’ Meeting to be held on July 29, 2020.

Pierre Cesarini, CEO of the Claranova group, said: “After an initial phase which enabled us to create, in less than five years, a profitable global technological group generating several hundreds of millions of euros in revenue, with outstanding growth driven by totally unique solutions, we now wish to embark on a new phase for Claranova with a revenue target of one billion euros for the years to come.

I am delighted to welcome these new members to the Board of Directors. Their expertise will help step up our development in this new phase, enabling us to multiply our projects and boost our growth. Johanna Gordon, with her extensive knowledge of strategic marketing and technology, Francis Meston, with his expertise in major international groups and major contracts, and Jérôme Bichut’s experience in North American stock markets and listed companies, will be valuable assets in supporting the Group’s scale-up. Having already worked alongside Jean-Yves Quentel, I’m convinced he will successfully lead the Finance Department in completing the various ongoing projects”.

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