MONTREAL, Sept. 10, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - The Board of
Directors of SNC-Lavalin (TSX: SNC) is pleased to appoint
William (Bill) L. Young as Chairman
of the Board, effective September 9,
2020. He replaces the Honourable Kevin G. Lynch who has
served as Chairman since 2017.
A professional engineer by training with extensive governance
and Board experience, Mr. Young is Chairman of Magna International,
a Canadian headquartered global autoparts manufacturer, and is a
Corporate Director on the Board of Intact Financial, Canada's largest P&C insurer. He is the
former Chair of Queen's University Board of Trustees, and has been
Chair Emeritus since 2012.
Mr. Young began his career as a chemical engineer with Imperial
Oil in Western Canada before
moving into management consulting and corporate strategy as a
partner with Bain & Company, and later as a founding partner
with Boston-based private equity
firm, Monitor Clipper. Mr. Young has worked with both private and
public companies around the world to optimize corporate strategies
and enhance business value, and has also served on the Boards of
several US and European private companies.
"I am extremely pleased to become Chairman of the Board of one
of Canada's preeminent global
companies. SNC-Lavalin has moved swiftly over the past year to
implement a new strategy, and I see a tremendous commercial
opportunity going forward to leverage the Company's unique
strengths and reputation to grow its engineering services
offering," said Mr. Young. "As Chairman, I see my role and that of
the Board's as providing governance oversight as well as acting as
a high-performance sounding board to management in the evolution of
the Company's
strategy".
"There are not many large, diversified Canadian-headquartered
multinationals, and Bill's experience as Chairman of successful
public companies, as well as his decades of corporate strategy and
governance work will be invaluable as we continue to execute on our
new strategy," said Ian L. Edwards,
President and CEO, SNC-Lavalin. "We have a singular objective,
which is to be a leading global engineering services firm. The
management team and I look forward to collaborating with Bill and
the rest of the Board, as we drive forward and enter the next phase
of SNC-Lavalin's transformation."
In May, a process for selecting a new Chairman was announced and
the SNC-Lavalin Board established a selection committee.
SNC-Lavalin Board member, Zin Smati,
was appointed Chairman of the selection committee. A thorough
process, supported by a leading recruitment firm, was undertaken
and a number of highly qualified candidates were
considered.
''I would like to thank my colleagues on the selection committee
for their contribution throughout this extensive process and I am
pleased to welcome Bill as our new Chairman,'' stated Mr.
Zin Smati. On behalf of the
Board of Directors, I would like to take this opportunity to thank
Kevin Lynch for his important
leadership in helping guide SNC-Lavalin through this pivotal time
for the Company. His guidance has been instrumental in achieving a
number of important milestones for the Company, and we wish him all
the best in his future endeavours."
About Bill Young
Mr. Young currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Magna
International Corporation and is a Board Director at Intact
Financial and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR).
He began his career as a professional engineer with Imperial
Oil before moving into management consulting as a partner in Bain
& Company's European practice from 1981-1989. He was a founding
partner of the Westbourne Management Group, a business focused on
turnaround management opportunities. During his tenure at
Westbourne, he led the takeover of
Consumers Distributing and served as co-CEO from 1990-95. From
1996-2018, Mr. Young was co-founder and partner of Monitor Clipper
Partners a mid-market private equity firm with over $2 billion invested in 45 portfolio companies in
North America and Western Europe. Mr. Young has been a member of
Queen's University's Board of Trustees since 1996 and has been
Chairman Emeritus since 2012. He has an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science
in Chemical Engineering from Queen's University.
About SNC-Lavalin
Founded in 1911,
SNC-Lavalin is a fully integrated professional services and project
management company with offices around the world. SNC-Lavalin
connects people, technology and data to help shape and deliver
world-leading concepts and projects, while offering comprehensive
innovative solutions across the asset lifecycle. Our expertise is
wide-ranging — consulting & advisory, intelligent networks
& cybersecurity, design & engineering, procurement, project
& construction management, operations & maintenance,
decommissioning and sustaining capital – and delivered to clients
in four strategic sectors: EDPM (engineering, design and project
management), Infrastructure, Nuclear and Resources, supported by
Capital. People. Drive. Results.
www.snclavalin.com
SOURCE SNC-Lavalin