LEUVEN, Belgium – July 2 2008 – Option (Euronext: OPTI; OTC: OPNVY), the wireless technology company, today announced that Mr. Olivier Lefebvre and Mr. Patrick De Smedt have been nominated to join its Board of Directors. Final appointment of the new directors will be subject to vote at the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders on July 29, 2008. Both will act as independent Board members, expanding the Option Board of Directors to eight members.
Olivier Lefebvre — rich experience in financial and capital markets
Mr. Olivier Lefebvre, 50, was, until recently, member of the NYSE Euronext Inc. management committee, member of Euronext N.V management committee and CEO of the Brussels Stock Exchange. Prior to that, he was advisor and Chief of Staff to the Belgian Minister of Finance, in charge of the reform of the Belgian financial markets. Mr. Lefebvre holds an MBA from Cornell University and a PHD in economics from the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL). In addition, he is one of the founding members of the Belgian Corporate Governance Committee.
Patrick De Smedt — thorough knowledge of the EMEA high-tech market
Mr. Patrick De Smedt, 53, has built up vast experience in the high-tech industry during his more than 23 years with Microsoft. He has been Chairman of Microsoft EMEA since 2003, supporting Microsoft EMEA’s CEO in refining strategic directions and initiatives in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Prior to that, he held several Vice President positions at Microsoft EMEA covering sales, marketing, business development, services for enterprise customers and the relationships with enterprise partners. Before joining Microsoft in 1983, Mr. De Smedt was a software manager for Altos Computer Systems and was responsible for the acquisition and support of software products on Altos hardware for the European market. He started his career at Tymshare as project leader for the Benelux region. He received a Commercial Engineering degree from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL) where he is Honorary Fellow.
Valued strategic insight in the financial and high-tech sectors
Jan Callewaert, CEO Option, comments on the nomination: “Both Patrick and Olivier boast impressive track records in their areas of expertise. Patrick has acquired a tremendous amount of strategic insight into the high-tech industry during his career at Microsoft. Olivier is an authority in the Belgian and European financial and capital markets. Their expertise will be a valued asset for our Board, enabling us to further strengthen our market position in our very dynamic industry.”
Current Option Board members
Currently, Option’s Board of Directors has six members:
• Jan Callewaert, Founder and Chairman of the Board of Option
• Arnoud De Meyer, Professor of Management Studies at Cambridge University, Director of the Judge Business School and Professional Fellow of Jesus College
• Philip Vermeulen, Advisor and Director of various companies active in information technology
• Lawrence Levy, Senior Counsel at Brown Rudnick Berlack Israels LLP
• Jan Loeber, Chairman of the Board of Newfound Communications Inc., he previously had leadership positions at a number of companies such as Nokia, AT&T and ITT Europe
• David A. Hytha, wireless executive and entrepreneur after a career of leadership roles with leading companies in the mobile communications industry. He is also a Venture Partner at Sofinnova Partners, one of Europe’s leading venture capital firms