Derio, 29 September 2020. Euskaltel's Extraordinary General Meeting has this morning approved, by an ample majority of votes, the company's Board of Directors' proposal to appoint Ana García Fau and Beatriz Mato as new independent directors of the company's governing body. The Euskaltel Group therefore moves forward with the latest Good Corporate Governance models to adapt its Board of Directors' membership with an equal -40% female- and independent membership structure.
The roles of Ana García Fau and Beatriz Mato as company directors have been confirmed, taking into account their professional backgrounds and extensive experience and expertise in the telecommunications industry at a local, national and international level.
These appointments come at a crucial time for the Euskaltel Group, which has approved its strategic plan for the next five years and has successfully begun its expansion into the domestic market. The recently appointed directors have the ideal backgrounds for this new stage in the company's development, where the strategy is to strengthen its traditional brands' roots in its local markets and to open itself up to the national market through expansion, reinforcing the company's leadership in digital transition.
With her broad experience of and expertise in Galicia's business and institutional fabric, Beatriz Mato will help reinforce the Group's Galician profile in this market through its R brand. Ana García Fau, meanwhile, is a recognised professional with an extensive career and experience in business management as well as a board member of many leading companies in the industry, both listed and unlisted, on an international level.
Taking into account the Corporate Governance recommendations that seek efficient operation, the active participation of all board members and agile decision making, Euskaltel's General Shareholders' Meeting has agreed to reduce the number of board members to ten.
With both agreements -the appointment of two new independent directors and the reduction in Board members to ten- the Company's Board of Directors now has 10 members: 4 proprietary directors, 4 independent directors, one executive director and one external director.
Until now, the Board of Directors comprised 11 members, although in the case of three of them ?Elisabetta Castiglioni, José Ángel Corres and Miguel Ángel Lujua? their tenure has expired. During the Extraordinary General Meeting the outgoing directors were thanked expressly for their commitment during their time on the Board.
Following the appointment of the new directors and the reduction in Board members to 10, Euskaltel's Board of Directors now has the following membership structure:
- Xabier Iturbe Otaegi (Chair. External Director)
- José Miguel García Fernández (CEO. Executive Director)
- Eamonn O'Hare (Proprietary Director)
- Robert W. Samuelson (Proprietary Director)
- Kartera 1, S.L., represented by Alicia Vivanco González (Proprietary Director)
- Corporación Financiera Alba, S.A., represented by Javier Fernández Alonso (Proprietary Director)
- Belén Amatriain Corbi (Independent Director)
- Iñaki Alzaga Etxeita (Independent Director)
- Beatriz Mato Otero (Independent Director)
- Ana García Fau (Independent Director)
- José Ortiz Martínez, Non-Executive Secretary
- Cristina Sustacha Duñabeitia, Non-Executive Deputy Secretary
This Board of Directors membership structure enables Euskaltel to include and progress with the pillars that guide good governance standards for listed companies (Recommendation 15 of the Good Governance Code of Listed Companies, in accordance with the CNMV review of 26 June 2020), with 40% of Board members being female and balanced representation by independent and proprietary directors.
Ana García Fau is a recognised professional with an extensive career and experience in business management, as well as a board member of many leading companies in the industry, both listed and unlisted, on an international level.
She has a degree in Law and Economic and Business Science from the Universidad Pontificia Comillas, ICADE (E-3, specialising in finance). She has an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management in Massachusetts.
She is also a member, among other organisations, of the advisory board of EMEA de la tecnología Salesforce, Pictet in Spain and Mutualidad de la Abogacía (association of law professionals).
She has extensive experience in the telecommunications industry, having held various management positions in Telefónica Group, where she held executive roles at TPI-Páginas Amarillas (Yellow Pages), as Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate Development. At Yell/hibu she was CEO for Spain, Latin America and the US Spanish-speaking market, member of its International Executive Committee, as well as Head of Corporate Development and Global Strategy.
Prior to her experience in this industry, she worked at McKinsey & Company and Goldman Sachs.
Ana García Fau is an independent director of the listed companies Merlin Properties, S.A., Gestamp Automoción S.A. and Eutelsat, S.A. and she is the non-executive chair of Finerge, S.A.
Beatriz Mato Otero has a degree in Industrial Engineering, with a specialism in Business Organisation, from the Bilbao College of Industrial Engineers and an MBA from the A Coruña University Business School. She also holds a certificate in Good Corporate Governance from Instituto de Consejeros-Administradores (Spanish institute of directors).
Beatriz Mato has worked professionally for 30 years in the private and public sectors, leading business projects in the technology and consultancy sector for SMEs and multi-nationals and as a minister for the regional government in Galicia.
She has an extensive consultancy background with particular expertise in introducing quality systems and innovation. She began her career as a systems technician at IBM Spain (1989-1991), moving on to become an IT services sales technician at Rank Xerox (1991-1993) and then a quality engineer at the engineering firm Norcontrol, which is now Applus (1993-1995).
She has broad experience in public management due to her role as minister for the regional government in Galicia, firstly as minister for work and welfare from 2009 to 2015 and subsequently as minister for the environment and territorial planning from 2015 to 2018, where she has acquired extensive knowledge of the business and social fabric in Galicia. From 2002 to 2005 she was provincial representative for the fisheries ministry.
From 2009 to 2010 she was chair of Sogaserso S.A. and a member of the Boards of Directors of several public entities in Galicia, such as the A Coruña Port Authority, the Ferrol-San Cibrao Port Authority and IGAPE (the Galician institute for economic development) from 2009 to 2018.
Furthermore, as the head of innovation at IGAPE, from 1995 to 2002 she supported companies in Galicia with regard IT and consultancy services, providing advice on economic and financial issues, internationalisation and support for enterprises.
Since February 2020 she has held the position of Head of Corporate Development and Sustainability at the renewable energy company Greenalia.
Euskaltel - Communication Department
comunicacion@euskaltel.com