Marco Patuano to succeed Tobias Martinez as CEO from 4 June 2023
Via Cellnex
Apr 28, 2023
- Tobias Martinez, founding CEO of Cellnex, is stepping down on 3 June 2023 after leading the company for eight years and overseeing the successful expansion of the business to 12 markets across Europe.
- Óscar Fanjul and Dominique d’Hinnin to join the Board as independent directors subject to shareholder approval at the General Shareholders’ Meeting on 1 June 2023.
Barcelona, Spain – The Cellnex Board of Directors will propose to the General Shareholders’ Meeting the appointment of Marco Patuano as the new Chief Executive Officer of Cellnex. The appointment of the new CEO will become effective on 4 June 2023.
Marco Patuano has extensive experience in the telecommunications sector and in-depth knowledge of the tower ecosystem in Europe, specifically Cellnex – having held the role of Chairman for two years.
Mr. Patuano has more than 25 years of experience at TIM (Italy) including as Group CEO (2011-2016), Chief Commercial Officer-CCO (2009-2010) and CFO (2008-2009). His career has spanned a number of markets in both Europe and Latin America. His directorateships have also included Autogrill, Atlantia, GSM Association (GSMA), Utenti Pubblicita Associati and WAC Ltd, among others.
Mr. Marco Patuano holds a Master’s Degree in Finance from Bocconi University in Milan, Italy.
Anne Bouverot, Chair of Cellnex, commented: “On behalf of the Board, I am delighted to welcome Marco as the new CEO of Cellnex following a thorough and comprehensive recruitment process. Marco is an experienced and respected leader with a deep understanding of the dynamics of the telecommunications sector and the European tower market. We are looking forward to supporting him as he takes on responsibility for delivering the next chapter of Cellnex”.
“I would also like to take the opportunity to thank Tobias for his exceptional leadership and the decisive role he has played in building Europe’s leading telecoms infrastructrure provider”.
“Marco and Tobias have committed to working together in the coming weeks to ensure a seamless transition after the General Meeting and the continued rapid delivery of the strategic priorities we announced in November last year, centered on driving value enhancing and organic growth and strenghtening the balance sheet to underpin an investment grade rating”.
Marco Patuano, CEO designate, said: “I would like to thank the Cellnex Board for its trust in proposing my nomination to be the next CEO. Cellnex is a great company with a bright future and, if appointed, I will be committed to the strategy announced in November 2022 which shows a clear path to value creation, organic growth and investment grade”.
Shareholders Meeting on 1 June 2023
The Board will convene the Shareholders’ Meeting corresponding to the year 2022 on June 1st, 2023 in second call, at the headquarters of College of Architects in Madrid.
As part of the agenda, the Board proposes to enlarge the Board from 11 to 13 members and accordingly propose the appointment of Óscar Fanjul and Dominique d’Hinnin as new independent directors.
Óscar Fanjul has extensive experience in managing large multinationals and a deep understanding of the business world in many countries across the globe. He is currently a Vice Chair of Ferrovial and a director of the Marsh & McLennan Companies and has been vice chairman of Omega Capital.
Óscar Fanjul began his professional carreer at the Spanish Instituto Nacional de Industria (INI) and also worked at the Spanish Confederation of Savings Banks (Confederación Española de Cajas de Ahorros). During 1983 and 1984 Fanjul served as technical secretary general and under secretary of the Ministry of lndustry and Energy. He has been the founding Chair and CEO of Repsol, S.A., and has also been Chair of Hidroeléctrica del Cantábrico, of NHH and of Deoleo, and director of the London Stock Exchange, LSE, Unilever, BBVA, Areva, Lafarge and Holcim.
Óscar Fanjul holds a degree in Economics and has been a member of the Competitiveness Advisory Group to the president of the European Commission and a Trustee of the lnternational Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS).
Dominique D’Hinnin is Chair of the Board of Eutelsat Communications S.A. since November 2017 and has been a member of the Board since November 4, 2016.
D’Hinnin is a graduate of the École Normale Supérieure and a former Inspecteur des Finances. He spent much of his career at the Lagardère Group where he joined in 1990 as an advisor to Philippe Camus. He was then appointed Director of Internal Audit and CFO of Hachette Livre in 1993, and in 1994, Executive Vice President of Grolier, Inc. (Connecticut, USA). He was Lagardère CFO from 1998 to 2009, and Lagardère SCA Co-managing Partner from 2009 to 2016. He is a former Board Member of Airbus and Canal+ and former Advisory Board Member of PricewaterhouseCoopers France.
Dominique D’Hinnin is currently also Board Member of the French Company Edenred, the French company Technicolor and of the Belgian distribution company Louis Delhaize SA.
With the incorporation of these two new independent directors to Cellnex’s Board of Directors, the number of independent members would be nine –out of a total of 13–, representing 69% of the total, thereby exceeding the threshold established in the recommendations of the Good Governance Code for Listed Companies. The Board would further comprise three proprietary directors –one representing TCI, another representing Edizione and another representing GIC, as reference shareholders– and one executive director.
The Meeting on June 1st is also expected to ratify the new directors appointed since the last General Shareholders’ Meeting held in April 2022, namely Ana García Fau, Jonathan Amouyal y María Teresa Ballester, and renew Marieta del Rivero, independent Director and Chair of the Nominations, Remunerations and Sustainability Committee, as well as Christian Coco, proprietary Director representing Edizione.