Directorate Change

8 Mar 2007 07:04

121Media Inc08 March 2007 8 March 2007 121Media, Inc. ("121Media" or the "Company") Directorate Change 121Media (AIM: OTO and OTOM), which on 27 February announced a $5 millioninvestment by leading global financial institution Morgan Stanley, at aprice-per share premium of approximately 50%, today announces a number ofproposed changes to its Board structure. These changes are part of 121Media'scontinued strengthening of its international management team. David Dorman, Christopher Lawrence and Virasb Vahidi plan to join the Board.Their appointments as directors are scheduled to take place following theCompany's forthcoming Annual General Meeting of shareholders (AGM). David Dorman, who is currently senior advisor and partner at global privateequity firm Warburg Pincus, was previously chairman and chief executive officerof AT&T Corp. Before that, he was CEO of Concert, the global venture created byAT&T and British Telecommunications. Mr Dorman serves on the Boards of Motorola,Inc., CVS Corporation, Firethorn Mobile, LLC, and YUM! Brands, Inc. Mr Dormanhas been an advisor to 121Media since July 2006. Mr Dorman will be joining as anon executive director. Christopher Lawrence is currently vice chairman of Rothschild, Inc. Prior tojoining Rothschild in 2005, Mr Lawrence was chief strategic officer of CreditSuisse Group as well as vice chairman of Credit Suisse First Boston. He beganhis investment banking career at Salomon Brothers in 1981. Mr Lawrence will bejoining as a non executive director. Virasb Vahidi, who is 121Media's chief operating officer, is an internationalbusiness executive with a distinguished career encompassing senior finance,strategy and planning roles in global companies including AT&T and AmericanAirlines, Inc. Mr Vahidi was most recently senior vice president of corporatestrategy and development at AT&T, where he was the financial architect of the AT&T/SBC Communications, Inc. merger and co-leader of the integration team. David Svendsen, chairman, and Dave Gwozdz will step down from the Board inconnection with the AGM. Dave Gwozdz will remain as US senior vice presidentBusiness Development and Sales for 121Media. The Company plans for Kent Ertugrul, 121Media CEO, to assume the responsibilities of chairman alongside his role of chief executive officer. Kent Ertugrul noted, "On behalf of the Board I would like to thank DavidSvendsen for his tremendous contribution to the Board and wish him every successas he leaves to pursue new opportunities. We thank Dave Gwozdz for all of hiswork at Board level and are very pleased that he will continue in his role ofSVP Business Development and Sales for the US." Commenting on the new Board directors, Kent Ertugrul, founder and CEO of121Media said, "We are delighted to welcome Dave, Chris and Virasb to the Board.They each bring complementary skills and experience of an exceptional calibre.Their wealth of expertise and knowledge will be invaluable as we continue todevelop our business." Dave Dorman commented: "I have enjoyed working as an advisor to 121Media sinceJuly 2006 and am very pleased to be joining the Board. The business has madesignificant advances and I am looking forward to developing 121Media's globalpresence." Christopher Lawrence said, "I am delighted to join the Board at 121Media and amlooking forward to helping drive the Company's growth. It's an exciting time in121Media's development and it's an exciting time for global digitaladvertising." Virasb Vahidi commented, "I am proud to be joining the Board of a companywhich provides such a strong proposition to the ISP and online advertisingcommunities. I look forward to collaborating with the new Board directors, withsome of whom I have worked before, to take the company into the next phase ofgrowth." For Enquiries 121 Media, Inc. +44 7788 718770Kent Ertugrul (Chief Executive) Edelman Financial PR +44 20 7344 1325Paul Lockstone +44 7876 685200Sorrel Beynon +44 20 7344 1253 +44 7980 687 255 Canaccord Adams Limited +44 20 7050 6500Nominated Adviser +44 20 7050 6758Mark Williams This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange