Mississauga, ON Canada and Sacramento, CA USA (June 18, 2021) – Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc. (the “Company” or “BVT”) (CSE: BEE) (OTCQB: BEVVF) (CVE:BEE) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mark W. Kohler to its Board of Directors. Mr. Kohler is a Certified Corporate Director having obtained his ICD.D designation from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, and he holds Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and Chartered Accountant (CA) designations.
"On behalf of the Board of Directors, we are thrilled Mark has accepted the appointment and would like to welcome him to the Board. Mark's extensive experience across capital markets and technology will be a significant asset as we continue to accelerate the commercialization of BVT,” said Michael Collinson, Chairman of BVT. “Mark’s current and past Board experience will also strengthen BVT’s corporate governance stance which is an important consideration as the Company looks to increase its reach in the US. We look forward to working closely with Mark."
Mr. Kohler has over 33 years of experience as an entrepreneur, investor, financial executive, and board member at leading technology and financial services organizations in North America. With extensive experience as a C-Level financial executive at both private and publicly listed growth organizations, he is best known as a keen supporter of technology companies, efficient capital deployment, and growth strategies.
“BVT has a very compelling technology and a strong patent portfolio, with a significant market opportunity in the global ag industry to be a leading provider of sustainable agriculture innovation,” said Mr. Kohler. “I look forward to helping BVT accelerate the commercialization and growth of its technologies.”
Mr. Kohler is the Chairman and CEO of Exelerate Capital (Toronto), a strategic advisory merchant banking group founded in 2001, that provides governance/risk/compliance (GRC), corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, enterprise strategy, data privacy, and cyber security services to technology and high growth services organizations in Canada and the US.
He is also the Chairman of CloudMD Software & Services Inc. (TSXV:DOC), a digital health technology and EHS company based in British Columbia. Since Mr. Kohler joined its Board in March 2020, CloudMD has raised over $70 million and acquired six companies in 2020, and has raised an additional $63 million in the spring of 2021, resulting in a market capital increase from approx. $38 million to $425 million.
Mr. Kohler is known to be an innovator in his roles with Boards in North America, including in his past role as the Executive Chairman at QHR Corporation where he led the Board and management through its profitable and strategic transformation that resulted in the sale of the company to Loblaw Companies Limited for approx. $170 million. He was also the Chairman of the Board for Community Trust, one of Canada's leading OSFI - federally regulated Trust Companies (since sold to Questrade Inc.), where he led the design of the Bank's Enterprise Risk Management Framework, and the adoption of its leading Corporate Governance practices. Most recently, he was the Audit Committee Chairman at Versapay Corporation, which was sold at a significant gain to a US-based private equity fund in February 2020, for approximately $126 million.
In connection with Mr. Kohler’s appointment to the Board of Directors, the Company has also granted him 125,000 restricted share units (“RSUs) under the Company’s shareholder approved restricted share unit plan (the “RSU Plan“). The RSUs will vest immediately upon issuance and shall entitle Mr. Kohler the ability to acquire one common share (a “Share”) of the Company underlying each such RSU by delivering a notice of acquisition to the Company in accordance with the RSU Plan. In accordance with the RSU Plan, the RSUs were priced at $0.31 based on the closing price of the Shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) on June 17, 2021. | | |