The Board of Directors of Ubisoft has decided, following a proposal from the Board’s Nomination Committee, to expand its membership and to propose the appointment of Frederique Dame and Florence Naviner as independent directors.
These nominations demonstrate Ubisoft’s ongoing commitment to comply with the best corporate governance practices, reinforcing the presence of independent directors on the Board of Directors since 2006. As a reminder, Ubisoft’s Board of Directors currently counts four independent directors, with Estelle Metayer since September 2012, Laurence Hubert-Moy since June 2013, and Pascale Mounier and Didier Crespel since November 2013. In March 2016, Didier Crespel was also named Lead Independent Director, and asked to act as the main point of contact for all shareholders concerning matters under the Board of Director’s responsibility.
The appointments of Frédérique Dame and Florence Naviner will be subject to the approval of the shareholders’ general meeting of Ubisoft, convening on 29 September 2016.
In the meantime, Estelle Metayer’s mandate, expiring on 29 September 2016, will not be renewed. This decision allows Ubisoft’s board to align its expertise with the company’s challenges and opportunities ahead. Estelle Metayer will however continue to provide her expertise to Ubisoft as an adviser, specifically on governance-related topics.
Should these appointments be approved, the Board of Directors would comprise 10 members, including five independent directors and four women. Ubisoft will therefore reach its stated objective of 50% independent Board members, with the ambition to exceed this threshold by 2017 at the latest.
Yves Guillemot, Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are delighted to continue the expansion of our Board of Directors with the appointment of Frederique and Florence as independent directors. Their international careers are perfectly consistent with the profile of Ubisoft, which generates more than 90% of its revenues abroad. They will bring Ubisoft valuable and complementary experience; Frédérique will especially allow us to benefit from her deep expertise in digital customer experience and her extensive network in the Silicon Valley’s ecosystem; Florence will bring a detailed knowledge of all financial and strategic issues a large global group in the consumer industry faces. These are valuable assets to the Board at a time where Ubisoft has set itself an ambitious roadmap.”
“I would also like to warmly thank Estelle Metayer for her involvement and her contribution to the work of the Board over the past few years, especially for her valuable contribution to governance-related subjects and aspects linked to Ubisoft’s growth strategy. I am pleased that she has agreed to stay by my side, so that we can continue to benefit from her expertise,” added Yves Guillemot.
Estelle Metayer said: “I am very honored to have been able to accompany Ubisoft over the past four years and proud of the progress made. I am happy to continue advising this exceptional company in its future development.”
1
At Ubisoft, Frédérique Dame can draw upon her 15 years of experience at some of the world’s most innovative and cutting-edge companies, such as Uber, which she joined in its very beginnings. Today, Frédérique Dame is an angel investor in Silicon Valley. Throughout her career at different US-based digital companies, Frédérique Dame has developed a unique expertise for launching consumer products and services. Between 2012 and 2016, she helped scale Uber from 80 people to over 7,000 and expand the company from 14 cities in four countries to over 400 in 68 countries. At Uber, she also spearheaded two strategic programs: the “Driver Experience”, allowing private drivers to become part of Uber’s network on a global scale, as well as the “Employee Experience”, aimed at automatizing the internal systems in order to improve productivity and the collaboration of Uber’s international teams.
Previously, Frédérique Dame contributed to the development of Yahoo!, being in charge of their products’ social strategy between 2004 and 2008. She joined Photobucket in 2009, then Smugmug, two online photo-sharing products for which she implemented monetization and audience growth strategies.
Frédérique Dame holds a Master in Spacecraft Technology and Satellite Communications from University College London and a Bachelor and Master in Telecommunications Engineering from Télécom SudParis. She is based in San Francisco and has dual US and French citizenship.
Florence Naviner is currently Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Wrigley, a multinational company and subsidiary of Mars, Incorporated. Florence Naviner joined Mars in 1992 and brings to Ubisoft more than 30 years of experience in different financial and strategic management positions within the consumer goods industry. Based in Chicago, she leads Wrigley’s global Finance team and co-pilots the implementation of Wrigley’s global strategy and its operations. She is also responsible for tax matters, corporate consolidation, and treasury. From 2011 to 2012, as Mars Financial Services Vice President, she designed and implemented a global strategy to deploy a shared financial services center for Mars, Incorporated. Florence Naviner has also gained a solid international experience, having served as Chief Financial Officer of Mars Petcare for Europe, Finance Vice President of Mars in China between 2006 and 2008 as well as Finance Vice President of Mars Petcare in the USA from 2008 to 2011.
She has particularly driven business turnarounds, piloted cost competitiveness programs, and oversaw the creation of synergies in post-acquisition periods. Florence Naviner started her career at Arthur Andersen in Paris in 1985.
Florence Naviner graduated from the HEC Business School Paris and possesses a DESCF degree in accounting. She holds the French nationality.
Contact Investor relations
Jean-Benoît Roquette
SVP Investor Relations
+ 33 1 48 18 52 39
Jean-benoit.roquette@ubisoft.com
About Ubisoft:
Ubisoft is a leading creator, publisher, and distributor of interactive entertainment and services, with a rich portfolio of world-renowned brands, including Assassin’s Creed, Just Dance, Watch_Dogs, Tom Clancy’s video game series, Rayman and Far Cry. The teams throughout Ubisoft’s worldwide network of studios and business offices are committed to delivering original and memorable gaming experiences across all popular platforms, including consoles, mobile phones, tablets, and PCs. For the 2015-16 fiscal year, Ubisoft generated sales of €1.394 billion. To learn more, please visit www.ubisoftgroup.com.