TOULOUSE, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News:
The Board of Directors of Latécoère (Paris:LAT) met yesterday, March 17th, 2020, and decided to reorganize the governance of the Group with immediate effect.
In the Executive Committee:
- Philip Swash, member of the Board of Directors, has been appointed Group Chief Executive Officer.
- Thierry Mootz, former General Manager of the Aerostructures Division, has been appointed Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer, and General Manager of the Interconnection Systems Division.
- Grégoire Huttner has been appointed General Manager of the Aerostructures Division.
In the Board of Directors:
- Caroline Catoire has been co-opted as Director to represent the interests of Searchlight at the Board of Directors after the resignation of Mrs. Yannick Assouad.
- Christophe Villemin has been co-opted as Director to represent the interests of Searchlight at the Board of Directors after the resignation of M. Grégoire Huttner.
Pierre Gadonneix, Chairman of the Board of Directors, commented: “The new leadership team, led by Philip Swash, will prioritize navigating through the current COVID-19 crisis by ensuring the safety as well as continuity of supply to our customers. On the longer term, the leadership team will focus on the development of the company as well as establishing best in class performance of the business.”
“In the name of Latécoère’s Board of Directors and employees, I wish to thank Yannick Assouad for her role as Group Chief Executive Officer in successfully transforming the Company and rebuild reputation and customers’ trust.”
Ralf Ackermann, member of the Board of Directors and representative of the majority shareholder Searchlight Capital Partners declares that Searchlight is fully supportive of the new management team.
As a consequence of these changes, Yannick Assouad and Grégoire Huttner resigned as directors of the board. Yannick Assouad is replaced by Caroline Catoire and Grégoire Huttner by Christophe Villemin.
Mrs Claire Dreyfus-Cloarec has also decided to stop her directorship, her lead directorship, and presidency of the audit and risks committee. A search for a new female independent director is launched to replace her. Once the latter is appointed, the committees of the Board of Directors may be redesigned. In the meantime, Mr Pierre Gadonneix becomes chairman by interim of the audit and risks committee.
The board of Latécoère, would also like to thank Denis Bretagnolle for his valuable contribution to the strong development of the Interconnection Systems branch over the last years, and Mrs. Claire Dreyfus-Cloarec for the diligence and professionalism she has shown in the performance of her duties.
Philip Antony Swash, a British national, is a Chartered Engineer of the Institute of Engineering & Technology, a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and an Honorary Fellow of Liverpool John Moores University. He holds a BEng (Hons) Degree in Mechanical & Production Engineering.
Philip Antony Swash began his career as a mechanical engineer. From 1995 to 2007, he worked for Airbus ultimately becoming responsible for Airbus Wing Manufacturing. From 2007 to 2018, Philip Antony Swash joined GKN where he held the positions of CEO of GKN European Aerospace & Global Special Products Group, CEO of GKN Land Systems & Group Executive Committee and then CEO of GKN Automotive and member of the Board of Directors of GKN PLC.
Thierry Mootz was appointed Acting General Manager of the Aerostructures division as of October 1st, 2019. Thierry Mootz has been Chief Operating Officer of the Group since March 2017, and in his capacity has overseen the Group’s Operational Excellence and the supervision of the Transformation 2020 plan, as well as the Information Systems and Purchasing Departments.
Grégoire Huttner, was Group Transformation Officer at Imerys, the world’s leading industrial minerals company. Previously, as Advisor to Apollo Global Management, the private equity firm, he advised on the growth plans of industrial portfolio companies. Earlier, Greg headed Strategy then Global Sales & Marketing for Constellium’s Aerospace & Transportation division, under Apollo ownership. He began his career in strategy consulting with Monitor Group, serving clients in particular in the industrial goods sector in Europe, the United States and South America.
Greg is a British and French national. He holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and an MSc in Management from HEC Paris.
Caroline Catoire, is President of C2A Conseil, consulting in Finance since 2017 and Board member of Credit Agricole since 2011. Previously she was Group CFO of Metalor Group in Switzerland, Group CFO of SAUR and Group CFO of SITA France (now Suez Environment Group). She started her career at Total and then worked for Société Générale. Claire Catoire is graduated from Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées.
Christophe Villemin has a broad expertise with the world’s largest industrial companies including the successful LBO of Constellium SE. In 1994, he joined Alcan and held various management positions in packaging and aluminum conversion in Europe and the United States. In 2002, he was appointed as General Manager, Alcan Rolled Products Valais in Switzerland and in 2005, President of Alcan Engineered Aluminum Products (EP), Packaging & Automotive Rolled Products. Mr. Villemin also served as President of Rio Tinto Alcan Rolled Products until 2010 before being named President of Aerospace & Transportation at Constellium N.V., a position he held from 2011 to 2013.
Mr. Villemin has been an Operating Partner at Apollo Management, L.P. since 2015. He was a Director of Latécoère S.A. from 2015 to June 2019. In 2008, Mr. Villemin was distinguished as “Young Global Leader” of the World Economic Forum.
______________________________________________________________________________
About Latécoère
Latécoère is a tier 1 partner to major international aircraft manufacturers (Airbus, Embraer, Dassault, Boeing and Bombardier), in all segments of the aeronautical market (commercial, regional, corporate and military aircraft), specializing in two fields:
- Aerostructures (58% of total revenue): fuselage sections and doors.
- Interconnection systems (42% of total revenue): onboard wiring, electrical harnesses and avionics bays.
At 31 December 2019, Latécoère employed 5,187 people in 13 different countries. Latécoère, a French corporation (société anonyme) with capital of €189,637,036 divided into 94,818,518 shares with a par value of €2, is listed on Euronext Paris - Compartment B. ISIN codes: FR0000032278 - Reuters: LAEP.PA - Bloomberg: LAT.FP