TORONTO, May 20, 2021 – Optiva Inc. (“Optiva” or the “Company“) (TSX: OPT), a leader in providing communications service providers (CSPs) worldwide with cloud-native revenue management software, is pleased to announce the nomination of four new independent directors for election to its board of directors at its upcoming annual and special meeting of shareholders to be held on June 22, 2021 (the “Meeting“): Pat DiPietro, John Meyer, Simon Parmar and Barry Symons.
Each of the new director nominees have strong backgrounds in technology, software and finance, as well as a broad range of public company executive and capital markets experience. Anuroop Duggal, Dan Goldsmith, Lee Matheson and Rob Stabile will also be nominated for re-election at the Meeting, and Ryan Morris will continue with the Company as a board observer. If all nominees are elected at the Meeting, Optiva’s board of directors would be comprised of eight directors, all of whom would be independent.
“The new director nominees are all highly qualified with impressive experiences and diverse backgrounds that will enhance our Board and contribute to Optiva’s growth strategy,” said Robert Stabile, Chair of the Board. “We would also like to thank Demetrios Anaipakos, Andrew Day, and Graham Gow for their many contributions to the Board, and are excited to have Ryan Morris remain involved with Optiva as a Board observer.”
New Director Nominee Biographies
Patrick DiPietro
Mr. DiPietro has 40 years’ of experience with start-up and disruptive technology companies. He was formerly the Senior Vice President of the Integration Management Office at Infinera, a role he held since October 2018 post the Infinera acquisition of Coriant. He previously served as Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of the Board at Coriant, having created Coriant out of the founding companies of NSN Optical, Tellabs and Sycamore in 2013. From 2012-2018 Patrick served as Group President Telecom at Marlin Equity Partners working on transactions in the technology space. Pat served on the board of Elenion acquired by Nokia and was responsible for OpenWave Mobility and OpenWave Messaging, serving on the boards until the companies were acquired. In addition to launching several highly successful networking products and start-up ventures, Mr. DiPietro has held executive management and research and development roles in leading telecommunications and technology companies, including senior leadership roles at Nortel and Bell Northern Research. Patrick previously served as Managing Partner at VG Partners, an early stage VC firm, overseeing the company’s Technology Fund. As a venture capitalist, he managed a portfolio of more than 20 start-up companies and sat on numerous boards, including those of Sandvine, SiGe Semiconductor, Continuous Computing, BTI Systems, Neterion and BelAir Networks. Mr. DiPietro earned a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Queen’s University, and has completed master’s courses in Telecommunications Management from Carleton University.
John Meyer
John A. Meyer has over 40 years of leadership experience with large publicly traded organizations and building high growth organizations in both the United States and internationally. John was the Executive Chairman of Arise Virtual Solutions Inc., a leading virtual Work at Home solutions company, until its successful sale/exit to Warburg Pincus in December 2019. John joined Arise as CEO in 2011 to drive the organization’s growth, set the strategic vision and manage the global operations of the business. In 2013, he was selected as Mid-Market CEO of the year by CEO Connections. Prior to joining Arise in 2011, John served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Acxiom Corporation, a $1.1 billion global interactive marketing services company with more than 6,500 employees. Previously, he served as President of the Global Services group of Alcatel-Lucent for five years, where he was responsible for more than $6 billion in annual revenue and the management of more than 20,000 people. Prior to joining Lucent, he spent almost 20 years in a number of high-profile positions at EDS, including Chairman of the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Operating Team, President of Diversified Financial Services and Credit Services Divisions, and CIO for the company’s GMAC business. John’s global, multi-industry experience at EDS was marked by numerous successes, including doubling revenue in EMEA from $3.6 billion to $7.2 billion in four years. Before entering the business world, John served as an ICBM flight commander and was selected as a captain in the U.S. Air Force. He holds an MBA in Quantitative Methods with honors from the University of Missouri and a BS in management from Pennsylvania State University.
Simon Parmar
Simon Parmar has over 20 years of experience in professional services, management consulting, and executive roles. He has spent the past 15 years as a President and Chief Financial Officer primarily in growth-oriented technology companies including Constellation Software Inc. and Softchoice. As President, Simon held profit and loss responsibility for businesses with up to $40 million revenue, successfully growing earnings and improving overall results in each case. As CFO, Simon managed finance, legal, and technology for businesses with over $1 billion revenue. In both capacities, he played a lead role building shareholder value generating a 2x to 6x multiple of invested capital. Throughout his career, he has held primary responsibility for facilitating effective board and audit committee meetings and developed an international perspective having lived and worked in North America and Europe with significant operations, acquisition and integration experience on both continents. Simon began his career with KPMG and was a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group. He holds an MBA from the University of Western Ontario and is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA).
Barry Symons
Barry Symons has served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Jonas Operating Group since August 2007 (one of 6 operating groups that make up Constellation Software Inc.). Prior to this appointment he held numerous roles of increasing responsibility with Constellation Software Inc. spanning the period from 1997 till 2007 culminating in his appointment as the Chief Financial Officer of Constellation Software Inc. from 2004 to 2007. Before joining Constellation Software Inc., Mr. Symons was with a major international accounting firm in varying roles of increasing responsibility. Mr. Symons holds a Chartered Accountancy designation and a BBA (Honours) degree from Wilfrid Laurier University both of which were received with distinction.
Further information about each of the director nominees and incumbent directors will be contained in the Company’s management information circular for the Meeting, copies of which will be mailed to the Company’s shareholders and filed under Optiva’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.
About Optiva
Optiva Inc. is a leading provider of mission-critical, cloud-native revenue management software for the telecommunications industry. Its products are delivered globally on the private and public cloud. The Company’s solutions help service providers maximize digital, 5G, IoT and emerging market opportunities to achieve business success. Established in 1999, Optiva Inc. is on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: OPT). For more information, visit www.optiva.wpengine.com.
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including, without limitation, statements regarding the election of the director nominees to the Company’s board of directors at the Meeting. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “expects”, or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate”, or “believes”, or describes a “goal”, or variation of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved. There is no assurance that any forward-looking statements will materialize. Risks that could cause our results to differ materially from our current expectations are discussed in the Company’s annual information form dated March 31, 2021 and management’s discussion and analysis in respect of the three months ended March 31, 2021. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law, even if new information becomes available, as a result of future events or for any other reason.
For additional information, please contact:
Media Inquiries:
Misann Ellmaker
Investor Relations:
Ali Mahdavi
Optiva Announces New Nominees for Election to its Board of Directors