REG - Woodbois Limited - Appointment of Chief Executive Officer

WoodboisAnnouncement

08/11/2021 07:05

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RNS Number : 5759R  Woodbois Limited  08 November 2021

8 November 2021

Woodbois Limited

("Woodbois", the "Group" or the "Company")

 

Appointment of Chief Executive Officer

 

Woodbois Limited (AIM: WBI), the African-focused forestry, timber trading,
reforestation and voluntary carbon credit company, is pleased to announce the
appointment of Federico Tonetti to the role of Chief Executive Officer with
immediate effect. Paul Dolan, previously Chair and CEO, will assume the
position of Executive Chair of the Company, and will remain fully involved in
the day to day running of the business and especially its strategic
development.

 

Federico is a highly experienced senior executive, with a track record of
delivering business model transformation and operational optimisation for
multi-national enterprises. Most recently, Federico was the Group Safety &
Sustainability Director of Compass Group PLC, the largest contract
food-service company in the world and a constituent of the FTSE100. Prior to
this, he was the Country CEO for LafargeHolcim, a global leader in building
materials and solutions, in Poland, and before this held other senior
positions within Lafarge. Federico also worked as a Strategy Consultant for
Bain and Company.

 

Federico holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Bocconi
University in Milan and an International MBA from the Instituto de Empresa
Business School in Madrid.

 

Executive Chair, Paul Dolan, said:

 

"As previously advised, we have been searching for a CEO in order to both
broaden and deepen our management team in this period of rapid growth and as
part of the improvements to our governance by splitting the Chair and CEO
roles.

 

We are very pleased to welcome Federico to the team and we are impressed by
the start he has made since consulting for Woodbois over the past three
months. He brings extensive experience of operating internationally with
companies of considerable scale. His background in successfully delivering
increased operational efficiencies and executing on successful business
transformations will be important to Woodbois, as we look to continue to
deliver long term value creation for all stakeholders. Federico also has
considerable ESG credentials, having advised multi-national corporations on
their sustainability strategies, which is of importance to us, given our
ability to help organisations achieve their carbon reduction objectives.

 

I firmly believe in Woodbois' potential to not only create value whilst also
playing a growing role in sustainability and reforestation., As Executive
Chair I will be fully involved in the Company, and of course remain a
significant shareholder. I am delighted to be able to bring someone with
Federico's level of experience on to the Board to ensure we continue to
deliver on the ambitious growth targets we have in place."

 

Chief Executive Officer, Federico Tonetti, said:

 

"I am very pleased to be joining Woodbois on a full-time basis.  At an
operational level, Woodbois has delivered a robust performance to date in 2021
and I look forward to working with the team to increase output and deliver
further operational synergies going forward. Woodbois is also well placed to
make a significant impact in the Voluntary Carbon Market, a high growth market
segment that continues to attract high levels of interest from Governments,
corporates and investors the world over. This is a tipping point in the
Company's development and I look forward to working closely with Paul and the
wider team as we look to build the business and generate value for the
Company's stakeholders."

 

Regulatory Disclosures:

The following information regarding the appointment of Federico Carlo
Francesco Tonetti (aged 49) is disclosed under Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules
for Companies:

 

 Current directorships and/or partnerships:  Former directorships and/or partnerships (within the last five years):

 NONE                                        Lafarge Cement SP. Zoo

                                             Lafarge Cement Spółka Akcyjna

                                             Semaphore Coaching LLP

 

Mr Tonetti does not hold any ordinary shares in the Company but it is intended
that he will be allocated options over 30 million shares under the Company's
Long Term Incentive Plan.  The options will not be capable of being exercised
prior to 4 years from grant and they will be subject to stretch share price
and earnings criteria.  A further announcement will be made on formal grant
of the options.

There are no further disclosures required under Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules
for Companies.

 

 

Enquiries:

 

 Woodbois Limited

 Paul Dolan - Chair                                + 44 (0)20 7099 1940

 Canaccord Genuity (Nominated Advisor and Broker)  + 44 (0)20 7523 8000

 Henry Fitzgerald-O'Connor

 James Asensio

 Thomas Diehl

 Celicourt Communications (IR/PR)                  +44 (0)20 8434 2643

 Mark Antelme                                      woodbois@celicourt.uk (mailto:woodbois@celicourt.uk)

 Jimmy Lea

Background on Woodbois

 

Woodbois Limited (AIM:WBI) is an African-focused forestry company, divided
into three distinct, but highly complementary divisions comprising the
production and supply of sustainable African hardwood products, the trading of
hardwood and hardwood products, and a reforestation and carbon credit
division.

 

Woodbois' forestry division has production facilities in Gabon and Mozambique,
managing a total of c470,000 hectares of natural forest concessions. The
trading division comprises a highly experienced team of timber specialists,
who source and supply sustainable timber to a global customer base. Its
proprietary technology developed in house, captures, stores and presents data,
providing a matching engine to build scale and optimise trading opportunities
with its global customer base.

 

The Company's carbon sequestration and trading division was formed in March
2021 and aims to generate voluntary carbon credits for corporate partners
through the delivery of large-scale reforestation projects.

 

The Company's focus on the transparency and sustainability of its timber
operations has been recognised by The Zoological Society of London, which
ranked Woodbois joint sixth in its Sustainability Policy Transparency Toolkit
('SPOTT'') ESG policy transparency assessments for the worldwide timber and
pulp industries for 2021.

 

Please follow the Company on Twitter: @WoodboisLtd

 

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