Board of Directors

Arnaud Lagardère holds a DEA post-graduate degree in economics from the University of Paris Dauphine. He was appointed Director and Chief Executive Officer of MMB (which became Lagardère SCA and then Lagardère SA) in 1987. He was Chairman of the US company Grolier Inc. from 1994 to 1998. Arnaud Lagardère was appointed Managing Partner of the Company by way of a decision by Arjil Commanditée-Arco approved by the Supervisory Board on 26 March 2003 and his term of office was subsequently renewed in 2009, 2015 and 2020.

On June 30, 2021, he has been appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lagardère SA.

Directorships and other positions currently held in other companies:

In France:

• Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Arjil Commanditée-Arco
• Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Lagardère Media
• Director, Hachette Livre
• Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Lagardère Travel Retail
• Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Lagardère Active
• Director, Lagardère Ressources
• Chairman, Fondation Jean-Luc Lagardère
• Chairman, Association des Amis de la Croix-Catelan (formerly Lagardère Paris Racing Ressources sports association) (non-profit organisation)
• Chairman, Lagardère Paris Racing sports association (non-profit organisation)
• Chairman, Lagardère SAS
• Chairman, Lagardère Capital (formerly Lagardère Capital & Management)
• Chairman, Lagardère Management
• Chairman, LM Holding
• Member of the Board of Directors, Extime Duty Free, [formerly Société de Distribution Aéroportuaire (SDA)]
• Member of the Board of Directors, Relay@ADP

Outside France:

• Member of the Board of Directors, Lagardère North America

A graduate of the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, with a degree in Economic Science and a diploma from the SFAF (French Society of Financial Analysts), Virginie Banet began her career as a financial analyst at SBS, Warburg and then Deutsche Bank specialising in Capital Goods and Aerospace and Defence for Europe (1989-2003) before becoming an investment banker and Head of M&A Aerospace & Defence at Deutsche Bank and then at Airbus (2003-2008). From 2008 to 2010, she was a member of the Executive Committee of Lagardère Média, head of investor relations and financial market communications policy. From 2011 to 2014, she was a member of the Executive Committee of Natixis, Director of customer relations and advisory services, head of banking teams in France and abroad as well as traditional financing. In 2014, Virginie Banet joined Ondra as a Partner, and then joined Nomura as an investment banker in 2015. In September 2019, she founded her own financial consulting company Iolite Financial Consulting and became Senior Advisor at AlixPartners and Brunswick. Virginie Banet was appointed to the Supervisory Board of Vallourec in February 2020 where she sat on the Finance and Audit Committee, until Vallourec’s governance structure was combined into a single Board of Directors in July 2021. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Netgem and of Mediobanca SpA. Virginie Banet is also a member of the French Institute of Directors’ (IFA) ESG Club, and is therefore deeply engaged on CSR matters. In October 2022, she participated in the ESG Club’s Matinale event on corporate social responsibility and jointly edited a report on social and societal issues dealing with the challenge for boards of managing human capital challenges and the meaning of social responsibility.

Directorships and other positions held in other companies:

In France:

• Chair, Iolite Financial Consulting
• Member of the Board of Directors, Netgem (listed company)

Outside France:

• Member of the Board of Directors, of the Remuneration Committee and of the CSR committee, Mediobanca SpA (listed company)

Valérie Bernis is a graduate of the Institut Supérieur de Gestion and the Université de Sciences Economiques in Limoges. Having spent two years as Press and Communications Officer for the French Prime Minister’s Officer, in 1996 she joined Compagnie de Suez as Executive Vice-President – Communications, and then in 1999 was appointed Deputy CEO in charge of Corporate Communications and Sustainable Development. During that time, she also served for five years as Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Paris Première, a French TV channel. Appointed Deputy Chief Executive Officer and member of the Executive Committee of Engie in 2001 until 2016, Valérie Bernis was also Executive Vice-President — Financial and Corporate Communications and Sustainable Development, as well as being Vice President of the Engie Foundation. Until end-December 2022, she was a member of the Board of Directors, Nomination Committee and Audit Committee of L’Occitane International SA.

Directorships and other positions held in other companies:

In France:

• Member of the Board of Directors, Chair of the CSR Committee and member of the Remuneration Committee and Special Committee, Atos (listed company)
• Member of the Board of Directors, Chair of the CSR Committee and member of the Strategy Committee and the Commitments Committee, France Télévisions
• General Secretary of the Board of Directors, AROP (Opéra de Paris)
• Member of the Board of the French Alzheimer’s Research Foundation

Outside France:

• Member of the Board of Directors and member of the Appointments Committee, the CSR Committee and the Audit Committee of L’Occitane International SA (listed company)

A graduate of the École Polytechnique and the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, Laura Carrere is Assistant Managing Director, Development and Investor Relations, Eiffel Investment Group. Laura Carrere has over 16 years of experience in investment banking at Société Générale, where she was Vice President in structured finance for technology, media & telecoms (from 2003 to 2007), then Managing Director of equity transactions for large companies (from 2008 to 2016), before being promoted to Managing Director, responsible for coverage for Family offices & Holdings at the Investment Bank (from 2017 to 2019). From 2018 to 2019, Laura Carrere was also a member of the Board of Directors of ALD, the European leader in car leasing solutions. Laura Carrere also served as Commercial Director Southern Europe at EcoAct from 2020 to 2021.

Directorships and other positions currently held in other companies:

En France:

• Assistant Managing Director, Development and Investor Relations, Eiffel Investment Group
• Director, X-Environnement (non-profit organisation)

Outside France:

• None

Fatima Fikree is a  Director at the Qatar Investment Authority. She is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, the Tepper School of Business. Fatima Fikree began her career in the financial industry at Barclays plc and joined the Qatar Investment Authority in 2017. Fatima Fikree holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Directorships and other positions held in other companies:

In France:

• None

Outside France:

• Chair and Director, Q West Holding LLC
• Chair and Director, Qure Holding LLC
• Director, F3 Holding LLC

Marie Flavion is currently Operational Marketing Product Manager at the Hatier Group’s Diffusion Department, in charge of relations between Diffusion and publishers and event communication, a position she has held since 2014. She joined the Hatier Group’s Distribution Department in 1990, first as a project manager, before taking up the position of Promotion and Communication Manager from 2000 to 2014.
She began her career at Editions Larousse in 1985 as an archivist and editor.
Marie Flavion holds a Master’s degree in Philosophy from the University of Paris Sorbonne and a DEUG in modern literature.

Directorships and other positions held in other companies:

• None

Pascal Jouen is a graduate of the École des Beaux-Arts in Angoulême and has been a sales executive with Larousse since 1991.
He has held a number of different positions within the employee representative bodies of Larousse and the Lagardère group.

Directorships and other positions held in other companies:

In France:

• Deputy Mayor of Saint-Martial de Valette (France)
• Representative of the Périgord Vert group of municipalities

Outside France:

• None

Arnaud de Puyfontaine is a graduate of ESCP Business School (1988), Institut Multimédias (1992) and Harvard Business School (2000). He started his career as a consultant at Arthur Andersen and then in 1989 worked as a project manager at Rhône-Poulenc Pharma in Indonesia. In 1990, he joined Le Figaro as Executive Director. In 1995, as a member of the founding team of the Emap Group in France, he headed Télé Poche and Studio Magazine, managed the acquisition of Télé Star and Télé Star Jeux, and launched the Emap Star Division, before becoming Chief Executive Officer of Emap France in 1998. In 1999, he was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Emap France, and, in 2000, joined the Board of Directors of Emap plc. He led several M&A deals, and concomitantly, from 2000 to 2005, served as Chairman of EMW, the Emap/Wanadoo digital subsidiary. In August 2006, he was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Editions Mondadori France. In June 2007, he became General Manager of all digital business for the Mondadori group.
In April 2009, Arnaud de Puyfontaine joined US media group Hearst as Chief Executive Officer of its UK subsidiary, Hearst UK. In 2011, on behalf of the Hearst group, he led the acquisition from the Lagardère group of 102 international magazine titles, and, in June 2011, was appointed Executive Vice President of Hearst Magazines International. In August 2013, he was appointed Managing Director for Western Europe. He has also been Chairman of ESCP Europe Alumni. From January to June 2014, Arnaud de Puyfontaine was a member of the Vivendi Management Board and Senior Executive Vice President in charge of its media and content operations. Since 24 June 2014, he has been Chairman of the Management Board of Vivendi.

In France:

• Chairman of the Management Board, Vivendi (listed company)
• Vice-Chairman and Member of the Supervisory Board, Canal+ Group
• Director, Havas
• Chairman of the Board of Directors, Editis Holding
• Chairman of the Board of Directors, Prisma Media
• Member of the Board of Directors, Dailymotion
• Member of the Advisory Committee, Innit
• Honorary Chairman, French-American Foundation

Outside France:

• Director, Telecom Italia SpA (Italy) (listed company)

René Ricol holds a master’s degree in economics, is a consultant and certified public accountant and auditor. He is a former court-appointed expert at the French Court of Cassation (Cour de cassation). After starting his career as a partner in the accounting business, he co-founded the financial advisory firm Ricol & Lasteyrie in 1986, which he chaired until its sale in 2015.

In 2018, he set up the consulting firm Ricol Lasteyrie, which he chairs and for which he leads the strategy consulting and crisis management practice.

René Ricol has also chaired France’s institute of Statutory Auditors (Compagnie Nationale des Commissaires aux Comptes, 1985-1989), association of chartered accountants (Conseil Supérieur de l’Ordre des Experts-Comptables, 1994-1998), association of financial consultants and experts (Compagnie des Conseils et Experts Financiers) and the International Federation of Accountants – IFAC (2002- 2004).

René Ricol has also held a number of leadership positions in the public sphere, serving as Chairman of the French Trade Credit Observatory (Observatoire des Délais de Paiement), Chairman of the French business creation agency (Agence pour la création d’entreprise), Chairman of the advisory board of France Investissement, as well as holding the positions of French credit mediator and General Commissioner for Investment.

Directorships and other positions held in other companies:

In France:

• Chairman, Ricol & Co
• Chairman, Ricol – Lasteyrie
• Director, Ricol – Lasteyrie Conseil
• Member of the Board of Directors and Treasurer of the Institut Montaigne
• Member of the Board of Directors and Treasurer of Fondation de la deuxième chance
• Member of the Board of the Medical Faculty of Paris Sud
• Deputy Chairman, Fondation de France
• Director, Quartet Santé (non-profit)
• Board Advisor (censeur), La Mondiale
• Director, Delta 3C

Outside France:

• None

Nicolas Sarkozy was the 6^th President of France’s Fifth Republic (2007-2012).

Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine (1983-2002), National Assembly Representative for Hauts-de-Seine (1988-2002), President of the General Council for Hauts-de-Seine (2004-2007), Minister for the Budget (1993-1995), Minister for Communications (1994-1995), Government spokesman (1993-1995), Minister of the Interior, Internal Security and Local Freedoms (2002-2004), Minister of State, Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industry (2004), Minister of State, Minister of the Interior and Town and Country Planning (2005-2007). He was also the elected leader of French political parties UMP (2004-2007) and Les Républicains (2014-2016).

A trained lawyer, Nicolas Sarkozy is married and has four children. He is the author of several books, including Libre, Témoignage, La France pour la vie, Tout pour la France, Passions, Le Temps des Tempêtes and Promenades. Nicolas Sarkozy also provides consulting services to several international groups, (including chairing the Advisory Board of Corsair), and acting as a consultant to the Management Committee of the Marietton group. He sits on the advisory boards of Chargeurs (listed company) as well as being a consultant to Axian and SC Varsano.

Directorships and other positions held in other companies:

In France:

• Director and Chairman of the International Strategy Committee, Accor (listed company)
• Director and member of the Strategy Committee, Lucien Barrière group SAS
• Member of the Supervisory Board, LGI – Lov Group Invest
• Member of the International Advisory Network, Natixis
• Chief Executive Officer, CSC SELAS

Outside France:

• None

Pierre Leroy is a graduate of the École Supérieure de Commerce of Reims business school and holds a degree in law. He has spent his entire career with the Lagardère group.
He was appointed Director and Chief Executive Officer of MMB (which became Lagardère SCA and then Lagardère SA) in 1987, then Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lagardère Sociétés in 1988 and Secretary General of the Lagardère group in 1993.
He was appointed Co-Managing Partner of Lagardère SCA in March 2004 and then Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Lagardere SA on 30 June 2021.
He has also served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hachette Livre since March 2021.