Element Fleet Management appointed Jay Forbes as its new CEO and announced the planned addition of four new independent directors to its board of directors. The company also announced that it will hold its annual general meeting of shareholders on June 26, 2018.

“Jay Forbes has a demonstrated track record of success for helping organizations understand and realize their full potential.  His skills and experience will be invaluable to us as we look to realize the promise inherent in the global fleet management platform that Element has created over the past seven years,” said Brian Tobin, chairman of the board. “Combined with the addition of four new, highly qualified independent directors to bolster the expertise of our board, this represents a tremendous step forward in Element’s evolution.”

Forbes was most recently president and CEO of Manitoba Telecom Services from 2015 to 2017 where he created $1.1 billion in shareholder value. Forbes previously served as president and CEO of Teranet, a developer, operator and owner of electronic land registration systems, as well as president and CEO/CFO of Aliant and president of Ingram Micro. He is a chartered professional accountant, a fellow of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Nova Scotia (FCPA, FCA) and has completed the Institute of Corporate Directors program. He is a director at Economical Insurance and previously was a director at MTS, Stratos Global Corporation and Aliant, in addition to a number of not-for-profit organizations.

Until June 1, Dan Jauernig will remain acting CEO of the company and will then resume his responsibilities as president and chief operating officer of Element.

“Element is a truly remarkable company, having gone from concept to global leadership in the fleet leasing and service industry in seven short years,” Forbes said. “I am truly looking forward to working with my new colleagues to strengthen our current customer offerings such that we continue to grow with them in the years to come. Accordingly, we will use the next few months to better understand how we can further strengthen our business model and refine our strategies to the benefit of our customers and investors.”

In addition, Element will undertake a reconstitution of its board that will result in eight of nine nominees at the 2018 annual meeting being independent of the company.

Rubin McDougal, former director of Novitex Enterprise Solutions, and Keith Graham, founder and president of Rondeau Capital, have been appointed to the board as independent directors, effective immediately. Element also announced that it will nominate for election at the 2018 annual meeting two additional independent directors, Andrew Clarke and Alexander Greene. Forbes will also join the board immediately. Greene was previously the managing partner and head of U.S. Private Equity at Brookfield Asset Management from 2005 to 2014 while Clarke has been the CFO of logistics provider C.H. Robinson since 2015.

As a result, the company intends to nominate a slate of the following nine individuals for election to the board at the 2018 annual meeting:

• Current independent directors Brian Tobin (chairman), Paul Damp, Joan Lamm-Tennant and Bill Lovatt
• Independent directors Rubin McDougal and Keith Graham and CEO Jay Forbes, all of whom were appointed to the board on May 14, 2018
• Independent nominees Andrew Clarke and Alexander Greene

In addition, Steven Hudson and Richard Venn will not be standing for re-election to the board at the 2018 annual meeting.