NZX/ASX Announcement - Intention to Appoint Directors
Pursuant to NZX Listing Rule 3.20.1(a), SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited advises that it
intends to appoint Silvana Schenone, Julian Cook and Chad Barton as non-executive
directors to the SkyCity Board.
These appointments remain subject to approval by regulatory authorities in each of the
gaming jurisdictions in which SkyCity operates, a process which normally takes some
months to conclude. In the meantime, they will each be available to assist the SkyCity
Board in an advisory capacity.
Silvana Schenone is a corporate partner at MinterEllisonRuddWatts in Auckland where she
leads the firm’s Corporate division. She has extensive expertise in mergers and acquisitions,
private equity investments, takeovers, scheme of arrangements, capital raisings and
corporate governance matters. Ms Schenone is recognised internationally for her
commercial acumen and negotiation skills, and is a thought leader on corporate
governance issues. Committed to championing greater diversity, Ms Schenone is a
founding member of OnBeingBold. She is also a Board member of the New Zealand
Takeovers Panel and holds a Master of Laws from Harvard University. Prior to joining
MinterEllisonRuddWatts in 2007, Ms Schenone was a corporate lawyer at Sullivan &
Cromwell LLP in New York and prior to that at Cariola Diez Perez-Cotapos in Chile.
Julian Cook is the outgoing Chief Executive Officer of Summerset Group Holdings Limited.
Prior to becoming Chief Executive Officer in 2014, he was Summerset’s Chief Financial
Officer where he oversaw the company’s transition to become a publicly listed company
on the New Zealand Stock Exchange and Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Prior to
joining Summerset in 2010, Mr Cook was an Associate Director at Macquarie Group where
he gained significant experience in the energy, industrial services, tourism and aged care
sectors over a 12-year career. Mr Cook is currently a member of the Executive Committee
for the New Zealand Retirement Villages Association and holds a Master of Finance from
Victoria University and a Master of Science from the University of Waikato.
Chad Barton has extensive experience across finance, capital markets, mergers,
acquisitions and property development having been the Chief Financial Officer of
ASX-listed companies The Star Entertainment Group Limited from 2014 to 2019 and Salmat
Limited from 2009 to 2014. Prior to this, he was Chief Financial Officer of the Australia and
New Zealand business of Electronic Data Systems from 2006 to 2009. Mr Barton, as
founding Chairperson, established Women in Gaming & Hospitality Australasia to achieve
gender equity and support the development and success of women in the gaming
industry. He is currently a director of NeuRA (Neuroscience Research Australia) Foundation
and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Chartered Accountants
ANZ and holds a Bachelor of Business from the University of Technology in Sydney.
SkyCity Chair, Rob Campbell, commented that “the SkyCity Board is delighted to have
secured Silvana, Julian and Chad. They bring considerable expertise and diversity, both
individually and collectively, to the SkyCity Board in terms of their backgrounds and
thinking".