Renowned global CEO to lead the world’s largest specialized wireless distributor and a leader in innovation and diversified services for the wireless industry

MIAMI - Thursday, February 12th 2015 [ME NewsWire]

-(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Brightstar Corp. today announced that its board of directors has named Jaymin B. Patel as President and Chief Executive Officer of Brightstar. Patel becomes the second CEO in Brightstar’s 17-year history as he succeeds Marcelo Claure, President and CEO of Sprint.

“Jaymin’s operational leadership, financial expertise and experience negotiating and closing highly complex, multi-year deals makes him the ideal person to lead Brightstar at the center of the wireless ecosystem,” said Ronald Fisher, Chairman of the Board for Brightstar. “His disciplined global approach to operations will continue to drive customer value and profitable growth while maintaining our strong tradition of innovation in the SoftBank family.”

Patel, 47, joins Brightstar with more than 26 years of experience driving profitable growth and strategic transformation at leading global enterprises. Jaymin comes to Brightstar from GTECH, the largest lottery and gaming company in the regulated gaming industry, providing technology and services to customers in approximately 100 countries. He most recently served as President and CEO of GTECH Americas, overseeing operations in North America and Latin America. While at GTECH, Patel also served in a variety of global leadership roles, including Chief Financial Officer of GTECH Holdings Corporation as a NYSE listed company, and Chief Operating Officer and President and CEO of GTECH’s global lottery, interactive and gaming businesses. Patel has also served on the board of directors of GTECH S.p.A, publicly listed on the Milan Stock Exchange (MI:GTK) since 2007.

“Brightstar is a unique and innovative company that has transformed the wireless market landscape,” said Patel. “I share Brightstar’s passion for putting customers first, and their drive to offer value in this ever-changing market. I am looking forward to joining the talented team of innovators and entrepreneurs that has created such a successful enterprise.”

Patel’s global experience, which includes establishing and operating businesses in approximately 60 markets around the world; leading more than a dozen merger and acquisition transactions; and substantial cross-border capital markets experience complements Brightstar’s on-going global growth strategies. Brightstar has completed four strategic acquisitions spanning Asia, Europe and North America over the past year-and-a-half. Additionally, Brightstar’s device distribution services continue to be the largest in the world with operations in more than 100 countries, and now, Brightstar is also one of the largest distributors of mobile device accessories in the world.

Patel has successfully led publicly-traded organizations in the adoption of new products and services, enabling the companies to stay ahead of the curve in a rapidly evolving industry. This experience is similar to Brightstar, which started with a distribution focus and evolved to also offer a global platform of scalable solutions. Brightstar’s Buyback & Trade-in programs are now in more than 25 countries, and its Supply Chain, Financial, Device Insurance & Protection, Omnichannel and Mobile Digital Solutions continue expanding into new international markets.

Patel began his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in London. He was raised and educated in the United Kingdom, holds a BA (honors) degree from Birmingham Polytechnic (U.K.), and is a Chartered Accountant. In addition, he is a director of Willis Group Holdings plc (NYSE: WSH), the global risk advisor, insurance, and reinsurance broker.

Patel will transition to his new role by March 30 and join the board of directors made up of highly experienced Brightstar and SoftBank executives. Arturo Osorio, who led Brightstar in the interim as President and Chief Operating Officer following the departure of Claure in August 2014, has stepped down from the board.

About Brightstar

Brightstar is the world’s largest specialized wireless distributor and a leading provider of diversified services focused on enhancing the performance and results of the key participants in the wireless device value chain: manufacturers, operators and retailers. In 2013, Brightstar reported global gross revenues of $10.5 billion and employs about 9,000 people on six continents. For more information, please visit Brightstar.com.     

Contacts

Brightstar Corp.

Deb Miller, 305-921-1494

Deb.Miller@brightstar.com

or

Sabrina Rios, 954-331-6260

Sabrina.Rios@porternovelli.com

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