Philippe Blatter joins the Infront Group
As indicated in earlier announcements, Infront is pursuing a long-term growth strategy to further strengthen its position as one of the world's leading sports marketing firms. Consistent with this growth strategy, Infront made a strong entry into the Asian and Scandinavian markets. Currently, Infront is gearing up for the 2006 FIFA World Cup ™ in Germany for which it holds the worldwide TV-rights and is responsible for both the TV-production and global transmission of the event to broadcasters.
To secure a smooth transition at top management level in the light of next year's retirement of President and CEO Oscar Frei, Infront's Board has, after a thorough search, appointed Philippe Blatter as Deputy CEO of the Infront Group. Blatter will join the organisation in December 2005 and take over as CEO in the second half of 2006. Blatter will first focus on Infront's new business activities before assuming full responsibility for the Group's operations as successor of CEO Oscar Frei.
Infront Chairman Robert Louis-Dreyfus said: "We welcome Philippe to the Infront Group, a strong addition for our successful Organisation. We are greatly looking forward to the leadership, the expertise and insights that Philippe is bringing into the Group".
Philippe Blatter (41) has been a Partner at McKinsey & Company in Zurich for the past five years where he led the consultancy's worldwide Sports Practice.
For further information, please contact:
Oscar Frei, President and CEO
Infront Sports & Media AG
Tel. +41-41-723 15 25
Fax. +41-41-723-15 16
info@infrontsports.com
About Philippe Blatter
Philippe Blatter (41), a Swiss-born citizen spent the last 11 years working for McKinsey & Company, the international top-management consulting firm. He has been a Partner of the firm for more than 5 years. At McKinsey & Company, Blatter led the worldwide McKinsey Sports Practice. Thereby he has worked extensively for all kinds of organisations and fields related to sports business. Philippe Blatter holds a Master of Science degree from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) and an MBA degree from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, USA. He speaks fluently French, German, English and has a working knowledge of Spanish and Portuguese. Philippe Blatter is married and father of twin-boys. In his leisure he is a keen long-distance triathlete.
About Infront
Infront Sports & Media is a leading international sports marketing company. Headquartered in Switzerland, Infront is FIFA's exclusive television partner for the distribution and production of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™. Infront's main business also includes distribution of all other FIFA Events in youth, women's and indoor football; the IIHF World Championships in ice hockey; a portfolio of winter sports; the German Football Association (DFB), the European Handball Championships; partnerships with the Chinese Super League, the Chinese Basketball Association, Toyota F1 and representation of the Chinese Challenge for the 2007 America's Cup.
