DUBENDORF-ZURICH, Switzerland, May 19, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Myriad Group (SIX Symbol: MYRN), Europe's largest mobile phone software company, announced today that its Board of Directors has elected Rolf Jetzer as its new Chairman. Rolf Jetzer is a senior partner in Zurich law firm Niederer Kraft & Frey AG and also serves as the Chairman of Swiss International Air Lines. He succeeds Hans Peter Baumgartner, who resigned from the Board today.
"Following its successful acquisition of Purple Labs, Myriad has clearly reached an inflection point, with unique assets and scale," commented Rolf Jetzer. "I am excited about working with the entrepreneurial Board and management team to realize Myriad's full potential, creating innovation for customers and increasing value for shareholders."
Earlier today at their Annual General Meeting, Myriad shareholders elected Rolf Jetzer to the Board, and also elected Michel Paulin, the former CEO of Neuf Cegetel, a French telecommunications network acquired by SFR last year in a transaction valuing the company at 7.7 billion euros. Michel Paulin succeeds Jean-Claude Martinez, who recently resigned.
Myriad shareholders also re-elected two Board members, Hans-Ulrich Muller and Jean Schmitt, for a further term of office of one year. Additionally, shareholders approved the company's 2008 annual accounts and all other resolutions proposed by the Board.
The members of the Board wish to thank Hans Peter Baumgartner and Jean-Claude Martinez for their years of service.
Rolf P. Jetzer: new Chairman of Myriad Group
A Swiss citizen, Rolf Jetzer earned his doctorate in law at the University of Zurich. In 1982, he joined Niederer Kraft & Frey AG, one of Switzerland's leading law firms, and has been a Partner in the firm since 1988.
Rolf Jetzer is known for his entrepreneurial and leadership qualities, and his strong motivational and unifying skills. Under his leadership as Chairman, Swiss International Air Lines executed a substantial turnaround, returned to profitability and merged with the Lufthansa Group.
From 1996 to 2002, he was a member of the steering committee, and legal advisor, to Swiss mobile network operator diAx (branded Sunrise) -- beginning with the company founders in the early project phase, through commercialization and on to a successful trade sale of the business.
Rolf Jetzer is currently a Board Member of Bank Julius Bar & Co. AG as well as Julius Bar Holding. He is also involved in several other companies as Chairman or Director.
Michel Paulin: new non-executive Director
A French citizen, Michel Paulin has more than 20 years experience in the telecommunications industry. In 2000, he joined Neuf Cegetel, and was responsible for running various business units before being appointed Chief Operating Officer in 2004 and then Chief Executive Officer in 2005. Throughout this time, Neuf Cegetel was regarded as one of the most innovative and successful network operators in Europe, and ultimately became the second largest wireline network in France with revenue of 3.3 billion euros.
In 2006, Michel Paulin successfully introduced Neuf Cegetel on the Euronext French Market, after which the share price grew by more than 60% in 18 months and outpaced the French market. In 2008, he then managed the sale of Neuf Cegetel to SFR for 7.7 billion euros, and led the successful integration of the two companies.
Earlier in his career, he headed business units at Group Bull and other companies, and was an engagement manager and consultant at McKinsey & Company. He holds degrees from French Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole Nationale Superieure des Telecommunications in Paris.
Since 2009, Michel Paulin is the Chief Operating Officer Integration of the Louis Dreyfus Commodities Group.
Other decisions by Shareholders at the AGM
Shareholders approved the company's 2008 annual accounts and set off the accumulated loss against the share premium. In addition, the members of the Board of Directors and the Executive Management were granted discharge for the financial year 2008.
KPMG AG, Zurich, was re-elected as the company's Auditors for one additional year.
Shareholders also approved an amendment of the company's Articles of Incorporation and set the term of office for all Board members to one year, to reflect modern corporate governance, and approved the proposed increase of conditional share capital by CHF 50'000 to CHF 378'522.10.
Investor Calendar Q1 2009 Business update June 2, 2009
About Myriad
On March 18th 2009, Esmertec AG shareholders approved the acquisition of Purple Labs SA, creating Europe's leading mobile software vendor. We then changed our name to Myriad Group AG, to reflect the magnitude and diversity of our team and technologies in the combined business.
Myriad is now Europe's largest mobile phone software company, with a global team of 700 software engineers, and a worldwide customer base that includes all major phone manufacturers and over 30 mobile network operators. Myriad provides the best selling products in four of the most important mobile software categories: Java engines, browsers, mobile messaging and USSD-based customer self-care.
The Myriad Java engine and the Myriad browser are among the most widely deployed applications in the industry. In fact, the Myriad browser is the second best selling mobile software product of all time, having shipped in 1.8 billion phones as of mid-2008. Additionally, we offer complete software platforms for both 2G and 3G devices, which have powered millions of phones.
Given this unrivalled portfolio of software and the deep expertise of our engineering team, Myriad is both a global leader in mobile software, and the partner of choice for manufacturers and network operators seeking to create branded experiences on mass market phones.
Myriad is headquartered in Dubendorf-Zurich Switzerland and is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX Symbol: MYRN).