PRESS RELEASE
Mr Philip Duncan Wright
Appointed as our independent non-executive Director on 25 March 2019. He is mainly responsible for financial oversight and supervising and providing independent advice to the Board.
Mr Wright has more than 35 years of experience in the fields of accounting and finance. He has been a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales since January 1979. He was formerly a partner of Price Waterhouse (“PW”) from July 1987 to June 1998 and of PricewaterhouseCoopers (“PwC”) from July 1998 to December 2011. During his time with PW in Germany, he served as partner in charge of corporate finance and recovery from August 1990 to August 1994, and partner in charge of Berlin from July 1993 to August 1994 and partner in charge of business development for assurance and audit of PW Europe from September 1994 to June 1998. At PwC, he served as partner in charge of corporate finance and recovery in Europe, Middle East and Africa from July 1998 to September 2000, partner in charge of global corporate finance and recovery as well as a member of the Global Executive of PwC from October 2000 to October 2003. From November 2003, Mr Wright became a global relationship partner of PwC UK and was the chairman of their non-executive director program up until December 2011 when he retired from the partnership of PwC.
Mr Wright has vast experience in assuming public and charitable roles which have included several positions in relation to the public health sector. He served as a non-executive director of the National Health Service (“NHS”) London (Strategic Health Authority) from October 2009 to July 2010. Thereafter, he assumed the positions of non-executive director and the chair of the audit committee of Barts and the London NHS Trust from November 2010 to March 2012 and then assumed the same positions in Barts Health NHS Trust from April 2012 to March 2015. From April 2015 to August 2015, Mr Wright served as acting chairman of Barts Health NHS Trust. He was also a trustee and director of The Common Purpose Charitable Trust, a charity and social enterprise based in the United Kingdom which is engaged in leadership management from May 2007 to January 2018. Mr Wright was a council member of Goldsmiths College, University of London, from March 2012 to August 2017 and the chairman of their audit committee from September 2013 to August 2017. From February 2009 to October 2015, Mr Wright was also the chairman and director of Digital Theatre.com Limited, a company which is engaged in the online media sector.
Mr Wright has been a non-executive director and chair of the audit committee of Allia Limited, a communal benefit society, since October 2012. He is also a non-executive director and the chairman of the audit committee of Retail Charity Bonds Plc, which helps charitable organisations to raise unsecured loan finance, since March 2014 and a non-executive director of Beyond Food Community Interest Company, a social enterprise, since April 2016.
The major duties of the audit committees of the public bodies and companies named above include, among other things, reviewing financial statements and management response to the findings of internal and external auditors; monitoring and ensuring the effectiveness of the risk management, internal control and governance arrangements.
Mr Wright obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from Christ Church of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom in July 1975 and was conferred a Master of Arts degree from the same university in May 1980.
Ms. Katherine Rong Xin
Ms. Xin, graduated from Auhui University (安徽大學) in July 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in English. She obtained a master’s degree in applied linguistics from Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (中國科學院研究生院) in July 1986, and a master’s degree in business administration from California State University in June 1991. She further obtained a doctor’s degree in business administration from the University of California in June 1995.
Currently, Ms. Xin is an independent non-executive director of Fosun Tourism Group (a company listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (stock code: 1992)) and E Fund Management Co. Ltd. (a company established in Guangzhou, China with limited liability), respectively. She has been a professor of management since September 2001 and Associate Dean since 2011 at the China Europe International Business School (中歐國際工商學院). From August 2006 to December 2009, Ms. Xin worked as a professor of management at the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland . She worked as an associate professor of management at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology from September 1999 to August 2001. From September 1995 to August 1999, she served as an assistant professor of management at the University of Southern California. Ms. Xin served as an independent director in Shanghai Blossom Hill Hotel Management Co. Ltd., (上海布洛斯酒店管理有限公司), a company mainly engaged in boutique hotel management in China under the Blossom Hill (花間堂) brand, from March 2012 to April 2017. Ms. Xin was awarded the Chinese Most Cited Researchers by Elsevier, a global provider of scientific, technical, and medical information, for six consecutive years from 2014 to 2019.
Ms. Xin has entered into a letter of appointment with the Company for a term of two years. She will hold office until the next annual general meeting of the Company and is thereafter subject to retirement by rotation and re-election in accordance with the articles of association of the Company. Ms. Xin will be entitled to receive an annual director’s fee of HK$360,000 which is determined by the Board based on the recommendation of the remuneration committee of the Board and by reference to her duties and responsibilities and prevailing market conditions.
Save as disclosed above, Ms. Xin does not hold any directorship in any other listed public companies, the securities of which are listed on any securities market in Hong Kong or overseas, in the last three years and does not have any relationship with any Directors, senior management or substantial or controlling shareholders of the Company. As at the date of this announcement, Ms. Xin does not have any interest or short position in the shares, underlying shares and/or debentures of the Company or any of its associated corporations within the meaning of Part XV of the Securities and Futures Ordinance, Chapter 571 of the Laws of Hong Kong (“SFO”).
Ms. Xin has confirmed that she has met the independence criteria as set out under Rule 3.13 of the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on the Stock Exchange (“Listing Rules”). Save as disclosed above, there are no other matters relating to Ms. Xin’s appointment which need to be brought to the attention of the shareholders of the Company and there is no information to be disclosed pursuant to the requirements under Rule 13.51(2)(h) to (v) of the Listing Rules.
The Board extends its warm welcome to Ms. Xin.
Mr Hans Helmuth Hennign
Appointed as our independent non-executive Director on 25 March 2019.
Mr Hennig has been working with Jebsen & Co. Ltd. (“Jebsen”), a privately-held marketing, distribution and investment company established in Greater China, since September 1983. In May 1990, Mr Hennig was promoted to the role of General Manager-Corporate Development of Jebsen where he was responsible for developing the business strategy of the Group. He was then further appointed as a director of the board of directors of Jebsen in January 1994. In January 1997, Mr Hennig became group deputy managing director of Jebsen up until March 2000 when he assumed his present position as group managing director of Jebsen, where he is responsible for the overall business operations, strategies and development of Jebsen.
Mr Hennig graduated with his Danish Studentereksamen (high school diploma equivalent) from Deutsches Gymnasium für Nordschleswig, Aabenraa, Denmark in June 1977. He further completed the thirty fifth executive development program at the executive development center of the College of Commerce and Business Administration of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the United States in June 1987. Mr. Hennig was appointed a guest professor by Jilin University, People’s Republic of China in June 2012.
Mr Marcus Huascar Bracklo
First joined our Group in July 2012 and was appointed a non-executive Director on 25 March 2019, and is primarily responsible for advising on strategy and business development of our Group. He is also a director of Shanghai Deshijia and Beijing Deshijia, both of which are subsidiaries of our Company.
Mr Bracklo has over 25 years of experience in the healthcare sector, specialising in corporate finance, accounting and mergers and acquisitions. From October 1987 to August 1998, he worked at Price Waterhouse (now known as PricewaterhouseCoopers), starting as a trainee accountant, and was admitted to partnership in June 1997. From April to December 1992, he was seconded to the Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs of Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development, being primarily responsible for providing privatisation and accounting reform advice in central and eastern Europe. In October 1998, he was admitted to the partnership of Arthur Andersen as their head of healthcare in Europe during which he was primarily responsible for cross-border mergers and acquisitions in the healthcare industry. From December 2001 to September 2007, he was managing director of investment bank Sal. Oppenheim. Jr. & Cie. AG & Co. KgaA and a member of their investment banking committee where he was primarily responsible for their investment banking business in the healthcare industry. He is a director and founder of Baigo Capital GmbH, an advisory and investment firm specialising in the healthcare sector, which he founded in October 2008. He concurrently assumed the role of chief executive officer at Vanguard AG, a re-processor of medical devices from December 2011 to November 2015. Since January 2010, he has been a non-executive director of Lohfert & Lohfert AG, a healthcare consultancy firm.
Mr Bracklo obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Economic Science from University College London, United Kingdom in August 1986. He further obtained his Master’s degree in Economic Science from the London School of Economics, United Kingdom in November 1987. He became a chartered accountant in the United Kingdom in 1990 and was appointed a German public auditor (Wirtschaftsprüfer) in Germany in January 1995.
Mr Jannik Jonas Slot Jørgensen
Joined our Group in March 2012 and was appointed our executive Director on 25 March 2019, and is primarily responsible for supervising and overseeing the business development and marketing of the business in Denmark and the PRC. Mr Jørgensen is also a director of Guangzhou Deshijia, a subsidiary of our Company. He is the son of Dr Jørgensen, our chairman, executive Director, chief executive officer and Controlling Shareholder of the Company.
Prior to joining our Group, Mr Jørgensen interned and worked in ophthalmological and marketing sectors on a part-time basis. He was an intern at our eye clinic in Copenhagen, Denmark from January to July 2011, and was also an intern at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, United Kingdom from August to December 2011. Since February 2014, he has been a marketing manager at our marketing department in the PRC. From May to July 2015, he interned at the ophthalmology department at Instituto Zaldivar, an ophthalmological centre in Mendoza and Buenos Aires, Argentina. From May to July 2017, he interned in the emergency department of Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. He was also a marketing manager overseeing the marketing department of our eye clinics in the PRC from April to August 2017. Since August 2018, he has also been a resident doctor at the department of abdominal surgery at Randers Hospital in Denmark.
Mr Jørgensen obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Human Medicine from Aarhus University in Denmark in January 2015. He further obtained a Master’s degree in Human Medicine from Aarhus University, Denmark in June 2018.
Dr Ralf-Christian Lerche
Worked with our Group since April 2005 and was appointed our executive Director on 25 March 2019, and is primarily responsible for supervising and overseeing the recruitment of doctors, handling patients’ complaints and advising on medical trends and practice. He also moderates the discussion and scientific round at our annual doctors meeting and oversees our medical operations. Dr Lerche is a freelancer and has entered into a contract for service with the Group.
Dr Lerche has over 20 years of experience as a practicing ophthalmologist. Since October 1998, he has been a consultant in ophthalmology in Ärztekammer Hamburg, a medical association which represents the medical profession in Hamburg, Germany. He was also a senior doctor in the university eye clinic of Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany from July 2000 to August 2002. From September 2002 to March 2005, he was a senior doctor and head of department for refractive surgery at the university eye clinic of the University of Hamburg, Germany. Since April 2005, he has been a self-employed ophthalmologist in Hamburg, Germany and has been working in Dr Jørgensen & Partners, an eye clinic which specialises in corneal and cataract surgery. Since June 2007, he has been an associate medical director at EuroEyes AugenLaserZentrum Hannover GmbH, a subsidiary of our Company. In July 2013, he founded Ophthalmologikum Dres. Jørgensen Lerche Galambos Klär-Dißars GmbH, an eye clinic which specialises in general and retinal ophthalmology. In March 2016, Dr Lerche further founded MVZ Ophthalmologikum Eidelstedt GmbH, an eye clinic which specialises in general and retinal ophthalmology in Hamburg, Germany. He became the president of VSDAR in January 2018.
Dr Lerche obtained his medical degree in Ophthalmology from University of Göttingen, Germany in October 1995 and became a qualified medical doctor in Hamburg, Germany in February 1996. He further obtained his habilitation degree in Ophthalmology from the University of Hamburg, Germany in February 2005 and was recognised as an associate professor who is capable of conducting self-contained university teaching in April 2005.
Dr Markus Braun
Joined our Group in October 2018 and is primarily responsible for supervising and overseeing the overall financial and accounting management of our Group. He was appointed a Director on 14 December 2018 and subsequently redesignated as an executive Director on 25 March 2019.
From April 2015 to October 2018, Dr. Braun was the vice president IFRS Compliance of Schaeffler AG, a global automotive and industrial manufacturer, primarily responsible for its group wide accounting related matters as well as matters pertaining to the internal control system. Before that, he worked for Deutsche Telekom group, a German telecommunication company, in different finance-related functions from December 2003 until March 2015, first serving in the parent company, Deutsche Telekom AG, and subsequently in its wholly-owned subsidiary, Deutsche Telekom Accounting GmbH, which is the global accounting shared service center for Deutsche Telekom group, where he was responsible for the accounting-related processes from transactional accounting to consolidation from 2010 onwards. At Deutsche Telekom, Dr Braun served as the senior vice president service management from June 2010 to April 2014 where he was responsible for managing main support functions for example business controls, project management or compliance management. Thereafter, he assumed the position of senior vice president business development from May 2014 to March 2015 whereby he was responsible especially for the business development of the subsidiary.
Dr Braun obtained his diploma in Business Administration in October 1998 and his Doctorate of Economics in June 2005 from the University Of Passau, Germany. Dr Braun completed the CPA exam in the University of Illinois, United States and has been a certified public accountant of the State of Illinois, United States since November 2000.
Dr Jørn Slot Jørgensen
Appointed a Director on 13 August 2018 and subsequently re-designated as an executive Director, and appointed as chairman of the Board, on 25 March 2019. He is also a founder of our Group and is mainly responsible for formulating our overall development strategies and business plans and overseeing the management and strategic development of our Group.
Dr Jørgensen has over 30 years of experience of practice as an ophthalmologist. Prior to founding our Group, he practiced medicine in clinics and hospitals (both private and public) between 1987 and 1991.
The list below sets out Dr Jørgensen’s major engagements in various professional associations and organisations:
Member of American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery since December 2002
Member of European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons from April 2010 to March 2016
Member of Professional Association of German Ophthalmologists (BVA) since 1992
Member of the board, vice president and president of Association of Specialty Clinics for Eye Laser and Refractive Surgery (VSDAR) since 2004
Dr Jørgensen has received numerous awards and recognitions for his achievement, including (i) the “Hans-Sautter-Laureate” awarded by the Vereinigung Norddeutscher Augenärzte in 1987, and (ii) inclusion into the “Best Doctors List” under the category of “Experts for Refractive and Cataract Surgery” in “FOCUS”, a German magazine from 2012 to 2018.
Dr Jørgensen passed his medical examination at Odense University, Denmark in July 1974. He was a registrar at the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf* in Germany from 1982 to 1986 and he had undertaken intensive training in refractive laser surgery at the Neumann Eye Institute in Deland, Florida in the United States in 1990.
