TIDMATMA
RNS Number : 5196S
ATLAS Mara Limited
03 October 2017
3 October 2017
Atlas Mara Limited ("Atlas Mara")
Strategic Update
Following its recently completed strategic transaction with
Fairfax Africa, Atlas Mara Limited ("Atlas Mara" or the "Company"
and, including its subsidiaries, the "Group"), the sub-Saharan
African financial services group, today announces changes to its
Board and management.
In accordance with the terms of the agreement entered into with
Fairfax Africa as part of the Placing and Open Offer (the
"Strategic Financing"), the Atlas Mara Board has approved the
appointments of Michael Wilkerson, Richard Boucher, Quinn McLean
and Hisham Ezz Al-Arab (the "New Directors") to the Board of
Directors. Co-founder Ashish J. Thakkar and Tonye Cole, Chair of
the Nomination Committee are stepping down from their respective
roles on the Board. Following these changes, which take effect from
October 2, 2017, Rachel Robbins, Amadou Raimi, Funke Opeke and
Eduardo Mondlane, Jr. will remain on the Board.
Bob Diamond, Chairman of the Board, said: "On behalf of the
Board, I wish to thank my partner and co-founder, Ashish and Tonye,
one of our founding directors, for their incredible contributions
to the Board. Ashish played an important role supporting the team
in our Fintech business line and government and stakeholder
relations, and will remain available to support us in these areas.
Tonye will remain engaged in our Nigeria operations given the
importance of Nigeria for our strategy." Regarding the incoming
Board members, Mr. Diamond stated: "I am pleased to welcome such
accomplished individuals to the Atlas Mara Board. Their skills and
experience are excellent complements for our Board as we grow from
strength to strength."
Mr. Thakkar stated, "I am proud of what Bob and I have
accomplished with Atlas Mara to position it for the next phase of
growth. There is an unbelievable opportunity to grow the company's
footprint and boost financial inclusion on our continent via
facilitating access to finance for the underserved particularly
SMEs. As a co-founder, I look forward to continuing to support the
team to realize our vision."
The Company also announces that Arina McDonald will today step
down from her position as Chief Financial Officer to relocate back
to South Africa for personal reasons and to pursue other interests.
In the interim, Mr. Kenroy Dowers, Group MD of Strategy and
Investments will assume the role of CFO until a permanent hire is
selected.
Ms. McDonald said, "The last three years have been rewarding and
I am pleased to depart at a time when the company is
well-positioned for the future. I will continue to follow the
company closely as it builds on the positive momentum evident in
its results. I thank Bob and the Board for all we have realized
together over this period."
"On behalf of our board and leadership team, I want to thank
Arina for her dedicated service to Atlas Mara over the last three
years. Her departure follows the positive momentum seen in our
recent half year results. We wish her much success in her future
endeavours." says Bob Diamond.
Atlas Mara remains on track with its profit and cost savings
goals announced earlier this year.
Contact Details
Investors
Kojo Dufu, +1 212 883 4330
Media
Teneo Blue Rubicon, +44 (20) 7260 2700
Anthony Silverman
About the New Directors
Michael Wilkerson
Mr. Wilkerson is Chief Executive Officer and a director of
Fairfax Africa Holdings Corporation (TSX: FAH.U), an Africa focused
investment holding company.
Prior to joining Fairfax Africa, Mr. Wilkerson served as the
Managing Partner of AgriGroupe Limited, an Africa focused private
investment firm which he co-founded in 2013 and whose core
investment thesis was Food and Energy Security for the African
Century. AgriGroupe sponsored in 2014 the $500 million take private
acquisition of AFGRI Limited, South Africa's leading agricultural
and diversified foods group and the largest non-bank lender to the
agricultural sector in South Africa.
Previously, Mr. Wilkerson served as Global Co-Head of the
Consumer, Food & Retail Group and as a Managing Director in the
Financial Institutions Group at Lazard, one of the world's
preeminent financial advisory and asset management firms. Mr.
Wilkerson was also a Managing Director at Citigroup, where he led
the Financial Institutions M&A effort in New York.
Mr. Wilkerson is Chairman of the Boards of Directors of each of
AFGRI and Clean Energy Africa and a director of Ascendant Learning
Limited and Invest Africa US. Since 2008, he has served as a
director (most recently as Chairman of the board) of charity:
water, one of the world's largest non-profits focused on clean
water solutions in Africa. Over this period, charity: water has
successfully deployed US$110 million in support of projects across
15 countries in Africa.
Mr. Wilkerson holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, a M.A.
in International Relations from Yale University and a B.S. summa
cum laude from Oral Roberts University.
Richie Boucher
Richie Boucher was, until October 1, 2017, Chief Executive
Officer and Executive Director of the Bank of Ireland Group having
taken up that role in February 2009.
Working with the Bank of Ireland Group Board and colleagues
across the Group, Mr. Boucher was responsible for leading the team
which recommended the strategy, developed the plans, led
negotiations and the implementation of the restructuring and
recapitalisation (from the private sector) of the Bank of Ireland
Group, restoring the Group to sustainable profitability. The
restructuring ensured all taxpayer guarantee liabilities were
extinguished and all taxpayer investment repaid with a significant
cash profit to the Irish taxpayers, as well as undertaking major
self-funded investments in and enhancements of BOI Group's business
models and infrastructure ensuring long term competitiveness and
sustainability.
Bank of Ireland is the largest lender into the Irish Economy
with significant market shares in all of its business lines. The
Bank also has a significant presence in the United Kingdom and
specialist businesses in Europe and the US. In the year to December
2016 BOI Group recorded an underlying profit before tax of EUR1.1bn
and at that date had a loan to deposit ratio of 104% and a net
stable funding ratio of 122%.
Prior to assuming the role as Group CEO, Mr. Boucher was Chief
Executive of Retail Banking at Bank of Ireland from 2006 - 2008 and
had been Chief Executive, Corporate Banking from 2004 - 2006.
Before that, Mr. Boucher worked in Ireland, the UK and the US in
various roles for Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest Bank, Ulster Bank
and the Industrial Credit Corporation.
He also serves as a non - Executive Director of Eurobank
Ergasias since January 2017.
Mr. Boucher was born in Zambia and educated in Southern Africa
before obtaining an Economics Degree from Trinity College Dublin in
1980.
Hisham Ezz Al-Arab
Hisham Ezz Al-Arab has been Chairman and Managing Director of
Commercial International Bank of Egypt (CIB) since 2002. He today
leads a team of more than 6,450 professionals who have transformed
the institution from a wholesale lender into Egypt's largest
private-sector bank, leading the sector on key metrics including
revenue, profitability, net worth and market share of deposits. CIB
serves more than one million customers, from individual customers
to small- and medium-sized businesses and leading corporations,
among them Egypt's 500 largest companies. The bank's market
capitalization has grown from EGP 1 billion at the beginning of Mr.
Ezz Al-Arab's term to EGP 96 billion, making its stock - a blue
chip component of the Egyptian Exchange - the global investment
community's preferred proxy for Egypt and a benchmark for the
banking industry in emerging markets.
Under his leadership, CIB was named Euromoney's Best Bank in the
Middle East and Best Bank in Global Emerging Markets for 2017 and
was named African Banker's 2016 Socially Responsible Bank of the
Year. Mr. Ezz Al-Arab was recognized in 2016 by Euromoney for his
"Outstanding Contribution to Financial Services in the Middle East"
and was EMEA Finance's "Best CEO in Egypt and Africa" at the
magazine's 2014 Banking Awards. In 2010, Mr. Ezz Al Arab launched
the CIB Foundation, a leading Egyptian voice for universal access
to quality healthcare extended to underprivileged children.
Mr. Ezz Al Arab leads the Federation of Egyptian Banks as
chairman, is a member of the Institute of International Finance's
Emerging Markets Advisory Council, and serves as a director of
MasterCard Middle East's Regional Advisory Board. He is also the
chairman of Board of Trustees of the CIB Foundation and a member of
the Board of Trustees of the American University in Cairo, Egypt's
premier private university. Mr. Ezz Al-Arab is also a director of
Fairfax Africa Holdings Corporation.
Mr. Ezz Al Arab joined CIB from Deutsche Bank and previously
served with both JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch in postings that took
him to Bahrain, New York and Cairo. He holds a bachelor degree in
Commerce from Cairo University.
Quinn McLean
Quinn McLean is a Vice President and a member of the investment
committee of Hamblin Watsa Investment Counsel (the investment
advisor of Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited. Mr. McLean has over
12 years of experience in investment management and currently
manages the investment float for Fairfax Financial in the Middle
East and Africa. Mr. McLean is also a director of Fairfax Africa
Holdings Corporation.
Mr. McLean is a director of Gulf Insurance Group (Kuwait), AFGRI
Limited (South Africa), APR Energy (Jacksonville, United States),
FarmersEdge (Winnipeg, Canada) and Fairfax Africa Holdings
Corporation (Toronto, Canada).
Mr. McLean earned his B.A. (Accounting) and MBA from the
University of Toronto, received a Chartered Financial Analyst
designation and is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered
Professional Accountant.
About Atlas Mara
Atlas Mara Limited (LON: ATMA) is a financial services
institution listed on the London Stock Exchange. Its vision is to
create sub-Saharan Africa's premier financial services institution
through organic and inorganic growth by combining the best of
global institutional knowledge with extensive local insights. With
a presence in seven sub-Saharan countries, Atlas Mara aims to be a
positive disruptive force in the markets in which we operate by
leveraging technology to provide innovative and differentiated
product offerings, excellent customer service and accelerate
financial inclusion in the countries in which the Company operates.
For more information, visit www.atlasmara.com.
Atlas Mara's Board of Directors
Robert E. Diamond, Jr.
Rachel F. Robbins
Amadou Raimi
Eduardo C. Mondlane Jr.
Funke Opeke
Michael Wilkerson
Richie Boucher
Hisham Ezz Al-Arab
Quinn McLean
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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