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PRISA adds new executives to accelerate its transformation to the next generation global media company

27-01-2010

PRISA is pleased to announce the appointment of two new senior executives, Kamal M. Bherwani, as the Company's first Chief Digital Officer (CDO) and Managing Director, and Andrés Cardó, as Director of Corporate Development and Marketing, which signals the beginning of a new business strategy for the Group and a change in the company's development model.

Mr. Bherwani is a proven global C-level executive whose vision and strategy have transformed organizations and inspired teams in both public and private sectors.  His diverse career in technology spans the fields of private equity, marketing, human services, health, housing, energy and construction. He has served as Chief Information Officer of multi-billion dollar enterprises, both in the public and private sectors, as well as CEO and board member of various technology, investment, and non-profit organizations.  As the CDO for the Group, Mr. Bherwani has overall responsibility for all digital strategy and innovation, including PRISA's digital sales strategy, digital distribution and content management platforms, internal technology, and all technology partnerships.  Mr. Bherwani was most recently the CIO for Health and Human Services for the City of New York, where he oversaw technology strategy and architecture across nine organizations that have a combined operational budget of over $20 billion dollars.

Andrés Cardó, a graduate of the IESE Business School in Madrid, will be supporting the growth of the different business units, particularly in the US and Brazilian markets, and he'll be overseeing organic growth at an international level, diversification into new business areas as well as coordinating transversal synergies across all the company's business units, including advertising, promotions and brand extension.

Alongside Isabel Polanco, Mr. Cardó planned, managed and oversaw the acquisition of the publishing houses Moderna, Salamandra and Objetiva in Brazil, between 2000 and 2005. He subsequently oversaw the integration of these companies into Grupo Santillana in Brazil, the biggest book publishing conglomerate in that country. Moderna, the flagship company, is clear market leader in the text-book sector and has seen revenues climb by 700% in a decade. Mr. Cardó has successfully developed an UN-branded personalized educational systems project ("Sistemas de Ensino"), thus creating a new business line with high potential for growth and added value throughout Latin America. Mr. Cardó has also been active at an institutional level -as vice-president of the Brazilian publishers body Cámara de Editores (Abrelivros) and as a member of the Fundación Santillana in Brazil- fostering and promoting closer ties between the worlds of business and culture in Spain and Brazil.

Bherwani and Cardó, in their respective areas of expertise, will be responsible for transforming the business model of PRISA's different business units, the goal being to develop these in a context of rapid technological change and to provide a more personalized experience for the Group's tens of millions of consumers.

Kamal M. Bherwani (Kota, India 1969) has over twenty-two years of technology and operational experience. Mr. Bherwani was most recently the CIO of Health and Human Services and Executive Director of HHS-Connect for the City of New York, where he Bherwani implemented several award-winning initiatives that have been globally and nationally recognized.  He was previously Chairman and CEO of Relativity Development Corporation (a global technology investment firm) and CIO of Bridas Corporation (a global energy firm).  Mr. Bherwani will remain as an Advisor to the Mayor's Office of the City of New York, Stony Brook University's Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology (CEWIT) Advisory Board, and on the Board of Advisors of Violy and Company.

Andrés Cardó (Lima, Peru 1961) is an Economics and Humanities graduate from the Universidad Pontificia Católica de Perú. He studied Finance under the Business Administration Program at the Escuela Superior de Administración de Negocios (ESAN) in Lima. He also holds an MBA from Madrid's IESE. He began his career at PRISA in 1990 at Grupo Santillana and in 1994 he was put in charge of launching the company's operations in Bolivia. In 2001 he became General Manager of Grupo Santillana in Brazil, a post he held simultaneously after 2002 with that of General Manager of Editorial Moderna and, after January 2009, with that of Country Manager in Brazil. He has represented the Fundación Santillana in Brazil since its foundation there in April, 2008. He is married and has three daughters.

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