Press release - Orange’s Board of Directors proposes Jacques Aschenbroich as a Director and future Group Non-Executive Chairman

Press Release
Paris, 30 March 2022

Orange’s Board of Directors proposes Jacques Aschenbroich as a Director and future Group Non-Executive Chairman

The Board of Directors of Orange, at its meeting on 30 March 2022, proposed Jacques Aschenbroich as a new Director of the Group and, from 19 May, as Chairman of the Board. The nomination of Jacques Aschenbroich as a Director will be submitted to the Annual General Meeting of shareholders that will take place on 19 May, following which the Board would meet to elect him as its Non-Executive Chairman.

The Board of Directors expresses its thanks to the Group’s Governance and Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility committee, which oversees appointments, along with the lead independent Director, for conducting a rigorous selection process.

The Board is also proposing to modify the Company’s statutes in order to allow a Chairman reaching 70 years of age during his mandate to complete his term of office, the duration of Directors’ mandates at Orange being four years. All other rules with regard to age limits will remain unchanged.

The Board passed two other resolutions in respect of the Group’s governance. Firstly, it proposed the nomination as Director of Valerie Beaulieu-James, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer and Executive Committee member of the Adecco Group. She will succeed Helle Kristoffersen who is leaving the Board after 11 years and during which time she has taken part in its work with tireless application and has brought to its deliberations throughout her mandate her considerable expertise, in particular in the domain of technology.

The Board also resolved, following a proposal by Christel Heydemann who takes up her role as Chief Executive Officer of Orange on 4 April 2022, to renew the mandate of Ramon Fernandez as Delegate CEO, his current mandate ending on 4 April in the context of the separation of roles. In this role, he will continue to bring his expertise and experience to the Group.

Stéphane Richard, Chairman and Chief Executive of Orange commented: “I wish every success to the tandem formed by Christel Heydemann and Jacques Aschenbroich which will be proposed to shareholders at the next AGM. Two experiences and two sources of energy serving the responsible development of this magnificent Group that I am happy to have served with passion these past twelve years”.

Christel Heydemann, Board member and Orange’s future Chief Executive Officer, said: “I am delighted at the decision of the Board to propose Jacques Aschenbroich as the Chairman of Orange. I’m sure that his long experience on matters of governance will bring much of value to the Group and I’m certain that his international experience and profound knowledge of industry will allow us to write a new chapter in Orange’s rich history together”.

Jacques Aschenbroich

Jacques Aschenbroich is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Valeo. Prior to this he was the Chief Executive Officer of the Valeo Group from March 2009 to February 2016, then Chairman and Chief Executive Officer until January 2022. His extensive experience has been gained in senior roles in major industrial groups, in France and internationally, and also in senior roles in the French public administration.
Prior to joining Valeo, having graduated as an engineer from the Corps des Mines, he held a number of roles in the French public administration and served in the Prime Minister’s office in 1987 and 1988. He then pursued his career at the Saint-Gobain group between 1988 and 2008. After heading the group’s businesses in Brazil and Germany, he became Managing Director of the Compagnie de Saint-Gobain’s Flat Glass division (Saint-Gobain Vitrage) of which he became Chairman in 1996. Then, as Senior Vice President of the Compagnie de Saint-Gobain from October 2001 to December 2008, he managed the flat glass and high-performance materials sectors from January 2007 and, as the Vice-Chairman of Saint-Gobain Corporation and General Delegate to the United States and Canada, he led the company’s US operations from 1 September 2007.
Jacques Aschenbroich is a former Board member of Veolia Environnement and is currently a Board member of BNP Paribas and of TotalEnergies. He is also the Chairman of the Board of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure Mines ParisTech and Co-President of the Franco-Japanese Business Club.

About Orange
Orange is one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators with sales of 42.5 billion euros in 2021 and 140,000 employees worldwide at 31 December 2021, including 78,000 employees in France. The Group has a total customer base of 271 million customers worldwide at 31 December 2021, including 224 million mobile customers and 23 million fixed broadband customers. The Group is present in 26 countries. Orange is also a leading provider of global IT and telecommunication services to multinational companies under the brand Orange Business Services. In December 2019, the Group presented its new "Engage 2025" strategic plan, which, guided by social and environmental accountability, aims to reinvent its operator model. While accelerating in growth areas and placing data and AI at the heart of its innovation model, the Group will be an attractive and responsible employer, adapted to emerging professions.

Orange is listed on Euronext Paris (symbol ORA) and on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol ORAN).
For more information on the internet and on your mobile: www.orange.com, www.orange-business.com or to follow us on Twitter: @orangegrouppr.
Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trademarks of Orange or Orange Brand Services Limited.

Contacts presse :
Sylvain Bruno ; sylvain.bruno@orange.com ; +33 6 86 17 88 89
Tom Wright ; tom.wright@orange.com ; +33 6 78 91 35 11

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