GrandVision announces CFO succession

Schiphol - 2 April 2019. GrandVision N.V. (EURONEXT: GVNV) today announced that Paulo de Castro has resigned from his position as Chief Financial Officer and member of its Management Board effective 15 May 2019 to pursue another career opportunity.

"On behalf of GrandVision, I want to sincerely thank Paulo for his seven years of service and wish him well for his next professional challenge. He has strongly contributed to the successful expansion of GrandVision’s international growth and helped me tremendously to onboard and to sharpen our strategy during my first 12 months in the company", said Stephan Borchert, GrandVision’s CEO.

Following this resignation, the Supervisory Board of GrandVision NV is glad to propose to its shareholders the appointment of Willem Eelman as its future Chief Financial Officer and member of its Management Board. For this appointment, an extraordinary shareholder meeting will be called for Wednesday, 15 May 2019.

Willem Eelman is the former CFO and Chief Operations Transformation Officer of C&A Europe, a leading clothing retailer in Europe. Prior to joining C&A, he held several senior roles at Unilever, including CFO Europe and its Chief Information Officer. In addition, Willem Eelman has been a member of GrandVision’s Supervisory Board since 2011 and has been acting as Chairman of the Audit Committee since 2011.

"I am excited to welcome Willem Eelman to GrandVision’s management team. Willem’s deep financial and operational experience as well as his strong understanding of GrandVision will enable a very stable and smooth transition and will support the company’s further growth strategy and its main initiatives", said Stephan Borchert.

"Along with Stephan, we are pleased with the appointment of Willem Eelman as new CFO, with which we will further strengthen GrandVision’s management team," said Kees van der Graaf, Chairman of GrandVision’s Supervisory Board. "Also, on behalf of the Supervisory Board, I would like to thank Paulo for his dedication to GrandVision and wish him success in his future endeavors."

Mr. Eelman has stepped down from GrandVision’s Supervisory Board with immediate effect. The Supervisory Board has initiated a process to appoint a new independent non-executive director and Chairman of the Audit Committee. Until such appointment is made, Peter Bolliger will assume the role of interim Chairman of the Audit Committee. Mel Groot will join the Audit Committee on an interim basis until a new Supervisory Board member has been appointed.

Attachment

• GrandVision Press Release