Bruno Bonnell Named Chairman and CEO of GT Interactive.Business Editors NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 10, 2000 Thomas A. Heymann, John T. Baker IV Step Down From Top GT Posts Special Committee Appointed To Consider Possible Combination of The North American Operations North American operation Surgical oncology Radical surgery of a 'frozen pelvis', consisting of radical en bloc resection of the uterus and urinary bladder. See 'Frozen pelvis.'. Cf 'All-American' and 'South American' operations. of Infogrames And GT Interactive Bruno Bonnell Bruno Bonnell is one of the founders of Infogrames Entertainment SA. A qualified chemical engineer, Bonnell received a degree in economics at the Université Paris IX. He began his long career on the Thomson TO7, one of the earliest French-produced home computers, before founding , chairman and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Infogrames Entertainment S.A., a leading developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment software, has also been named chairman and CEO of GT Interactive Software Corp. (Nasdaq: GTIS GTIS Government Telecommunications and Informatics Services (Canada) GTIS Global Trade Information Services GTIS GOES Tap Imaging System GTIS Government Technical Information Services (Canada) ), the entertainment software company in which a controlling stake was acquired by Infogrames in November 1999. Bonnell replaces chairman and CEO Thomas A. Heymann, who resigned along with president and chief operating officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. John T. Baker IV following GT Interactive's decision to remain headquartered in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . Heymann, who was hired in February 1999, will remain on GT Interactive's board of directors. Baker joined GT in April 1999. Heymann and Baker, who reside in the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. area, have no immediate plans. As CEO and chairman, Bonnell will be responsible for the overall management and growth of GT Interactive. Since the acquisition, Bonnell has been actively refocusing GTIS operations. Bonnell founded Infogrames in 1983. Bonnell has proposed that GT Interactive and Infogrames combine their North American operations. GT has appointed a special committee of outside directors to consider the proposal. No financial terms have been discussed. Under any possible combination, the combined organization would remain a publicly traded company publicly traded company A company whose shares of common stock are held by the public and are available for purchase by investors. The shares of publicly traded firms are bought and sold on the organized exchanges or in the over-the-counter market. listed on NASDAQ. &uot;We believe that the company has a bright future,&uot; said Bonnell. &uot;We appreciate the work of Tom Heymann and his management team, who have worked tirelessly at ensuring the company's viability over the last 12 months. I enthusiastically embrace the opportunity to lead such a powerful and creative company. My first priority will be to define a strategy aimed at increasing shareholder value.&uot; Heymann and Baker, since joining GT Interactive, worked to reinvent the company through a series of restructuring decisions. They made key changes to the company's senior management team, dramatically repositioned its frontline publishing division, outsourced warehouse operations, sold certain non-core assets, obtained commitments for an additional $30 million in subordinated debt Subordinated Debt A loan (or security) that ranks below other loans (or securities) with regard to claims on assets or earnings. Also known as "junior security" or "subordinated loan". from existing shareholders to continue operations and pursued a path to recapitalize the company. The effort to recapitalize led Heymann and Baker to retain Bear Stearns The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. (NYSE: BSC) is the parent company of Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc., one of the largest global investment banks and securities trading and brokerage firms in the world. in June 1999. Working with Bear Stearns, GT's management team negotiated Infogrames' acquisition of a 70% controlling interest controlling interest The ownership of a quantity of outstanding corporate stock sufficient to control the actions of the firm. Controlling interest often involves ownership of significantly less than 51% of a firm's outstanding stock because many owners fail - ensuring the future viability of the company. Additionally, Heymann and Baker worked with the Infogrames management team on transition issues since the deal officially closed in mid-December. &uot;With the restructuring and the additional capital provided through the Infogrames deal, we were able to begin to position GT for the future and to maximize shareholder value,&uot; said Heymann. &uot;I look forward to being an active contributor in continuing as a GT board member.&uot; Heymann, who was President - Worldwide, The Disney Store, Inc. before coming to GT Interactive, spent a total of eight years at the Walt Disney Noun 1. Walt Disney - United States film maker who pioneered animated cartoons and created such characters as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck; founded Disneyland (1901-1966) Disney, Walter Elias Disney Company. Baker came from Activision, where he was senior vice president, corporate development. Bonnell is one of the foremost visionaries in the interactive entertainment industry. Since founding Infogrames Entertainment in 1983 with Thomas Schmider, he has grown it into the largest entertainment software company in Europe and one of the top five in the world. Bonnell has led the way in expanding entertainment software to other platforms, including creating the first TV channel in Europe dedicated to video games, Game One, in conjunction with TV Canal +, Europe's pay-per-view cable giant. Infogrames Entertainment Infogrames Entertainment, S.A. (Paris Bourse Paris Bourse National stock market of France. : SICOVAM SICOVAM Société Interprofessionelle pour la Compensation des Valeurs Mobilières 5257) is a worldwide leader in the interactive entertainment software industry. Headquartered in France, the company develops and publishes award-winning computer and video games This article is about the British magazine covering computer and video games. For the American magazine, see Computer Games Magazine. Computer And Video Games (CVG for the PlayStation(R) game console, Nintendo(R) 64, Nintendo(R) Game Boy(R) Color, Sega(TM) Dreamcast(TM), and personal computer platforms. Founded in 1983 by its chairman and CEO, Bruno Bonnell, Infogrames' 17-year history has produced many award-winning franchises, such as Test Drive(R), V-Rally(TM), Independence War(TM), Hardball(R), and Alone In The Dark(TM). The company is also known for its long list of well-known licenses including Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) .(TM) Looney Tunes(TM), Mission: Impossible(TM), Le Mans(TM), AM General Hummer(R), Harley-Davidson(R), and Dodge(R) Viper. For more information, visit Infogrames' web site at www.us.infogrames.com. GT Interactive Software Headquartered in New York, GT Interactive Software Corp. (Nasdaq: GTIS) is a leading global developer, publisher and distributor of interactive consumer software. The company maintains four divisions: Children's Publishing, Leisure Publishing, Frontline Publishing and Distribution. The company has publishing operations throughout the world with offices in the US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Holland and Australia. GT Interactive also has seven internal development studios: Humongous Entertainment, Cavedog Entertainment, SingleTrac, WizardWorks, Oddworld, Legend Entertainment and Reflections. GT Interactive's ecommerce system provides secure online transactions through each of the studios' Web sites and www.gtstore.com. GT Interactive can be found on the Internet at www.gtinteractive.com. Safe Harbor Safe Harbor 1. A legal provision to reduce or eliminate liability as long as good faith is demonstrated. 2. A form of shark repellent implemented by a target company acquiring a business that is so poorly regulated that the target itself is less attractive. Statement When used in this press release, the words &uot;intends,&uot; &uot;expects,&uot; &uot;plans,&uot; &uot;estimates,&uot; &uot;projects,&uot; &uot;believes,&uot; &uot;anticipates,&uot; and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Except for historical information contained herein, the matters discussed and the statements made herein concerning the Company's future prospects are &uot;forward-looking statements&uot; within the meaning of Section 27A of the securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act. Although the Company believes that its plans, intentions and expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such plans intentions or expectations will be achieved. There can be no assurance that other future results will be achieve and actual results could differ materially from the forecast and estimates. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, world-wide business and industry conditions (including consumer buying and retailer ordering patterns), adoption of new hardware systems, product delays, changes in research and development spending, software development requirements and their impact on product launches, Company customer relations (in particular, levels of sales to Wal-Mart and other mass merchants), retail acceptance of the Company's published and third-party titles, competitive conditions and other risks and factors, including, but not limited to, those discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. for the fiscal year ended March 31, 1999. |
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