Solocal is a listed holding company.
Its operational activities are managed by subsidiaries in two countries: France and Austria.
The Company is managed by a Board of Directors, chaired by Maurice Levy, which determines the business strategy of Solocal and supervises its execution by the management team.
Without prejudice to the powers expressly reserved by law to the Shareholders’ General Meetings and within the scope of Solocal's corporate purpose, the Board of Directors may address any concern that may have an impact on the Company’s business activity and decide any matters within its remit. It also expresses its opinion on all major decisions in relation to the Company’s strategy, business development, human resources, finance and technology.
Solocal Group embraces the principles of corporate governance of listed companies set out in the AFEP-MEDEF Corporate Governance Code.
In the context of the Company's restructuring and due to the departure of Mr. Cédric Dugardin from his mandate as Chief Executive Officer, the Board of Directors decided on July 31, 2024 to reunite the functions of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Solocal Group and to appoint Mr. Maurice Levy as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect to simplify the decision making process and enhance the efficiency and responsiveness of the Company’s governance.
Maurice LÉVY, CEO and Chairman of the Board
Maurice Lévy joined Publicis Groupe in 1971 as IT Director. In 1975, he was appointed Executive Vice-President of Publicis Conseil, the Groupe’s flagship, passing through all the stages until his appointment as Chairman of the Management Board in 1987. He held this role for 30 years, until the General Shareholders’ Meeting of May 2017, when he was appointed as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Publicis Groupe SA. At the end of the General Shareholders’ Meeting of May 2024, he was appointed Honorary Chairman of Publicis Groupe. He steered the accelerated globalization of the Group starting in 1996. In 2001, Publicis Groupe’s globalization picked up more steam with the acquisition of Saatchi & Saatchi, then Bcom3 (Leo Burnett, Starcom, MediaVest, etc.) in 2002. The forceful passage into the digital world began with the acquisition of Digitas (2006), followed by Razorfish (2009), and Rosetta (2011). The acquisition of Sapient in early 2015 opened new avenues for Publicis beyond its core business into marketing, omni-channel commerce and consulting.
In 2016, Maurice Lévy launched Viva Technology - founded by Publicis Groupe and Les Echos Group - a global event dedicated to the collaboration between large companies and startups. Viva Technology is today Europe's number one startup and tech event.
Maurice Lévy co-founded the Institut français du Cerveau et de la Moëlle épinière (ICM) in 2005 and today chairs the Board of Directors of numerous organizations, including the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation, and, since October 2015, the Institut Pasteur-Weizmann. He has also received numerous distinctions for his work and his fight for tolerance. He is Grand Officier de la Légion d’honneur and Grand Officier de l’Ordre National du Mérite.
Marguerite Bérard, independent Board member, Vice-Chairwoman of the Board of Directors
Marguerite Bérard is a leading business figure in France. She was head of BNP Paribas French Commercial and Personal Banking (retail, private banking and corporate clients) and member of the Group's Executive Committee between January 2019 and March 2024. She previously served as member of the Management Board of BPCE Group (Banques Populaires, Caisses d’Epargne, Natixis) that she had joined in 2012, where she oversaw finance, strategy, legal affairs and compliance. Marguerite Bérard started her career at the Inspection Générale des Finances. She then became advisor on employment and social affairs to the office of the President of the French Republic between 2007 and 2010. In 2011- 2012, Marguerite was chief of staff to Xavier Bertrand, Minister for Labour, Employment and Health. She is a non-executive Board Member of Carrefour Group. Marguerite Bérard is an alumnus of the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA), and Sciences Po Paris. Besides, she holds a master’s degree from Princeton University.
Alexandre Fretti, independent Board member
Alexandre Fretti is a graduate from Telecom Bretagne (2003) and Stanford University Graduate School of Business (Executive MBA promotion 2017). Alexandre Fretti started his career as strategy consultant for both Deloitte and McKinsey & Company. In 2006, he joined Webhelp where he became, 10 years later, Managing Director. He was instrumental in transforming one of the most promising French unicorns by increasing the turnover from 30 M€ upon his arrival to 1.5 Bn€ when he left. In 2017, Alexandre Fretti was awarded the Next Leader Award and entered the Choiseul ranking. In 2020 he joined Malt as Managing Director and then co-CEO since 2022 with a view to transform the company into a European leader.
Delphine Grison, independent Board member
Delphine Grison is Chair of DGTL Conseil, where she works as a digital strategy and transformation consultant. She is also a Director of Dekuple and the Pierre & Vacances Center Parcs Group. From 2015 and 2020, she served as Chief Marketing and Data Intelligence Officer at CBRE France, having previously spent over a decade in the media sector in various roles spanning finance, strategy, marketing and digital. In particular, she led Lagardère Active’s digital activities until 2013, as Chair of Lagardère Active Digital and a member of the Lagardère Active Executive Committee. She also served as a Director at Asmodée from 2014 to 2018. Ms Grison is an alumnus of the ENS, has a doctorate in quantum physics and is a civil engineer.
Marie-Christine Levet, independent Board member
Marie-Christine Levet, one of the internet pioneers in France, led several several major brands of the French internet in France. In 1997, she founded the company Lycos to launch the French version of the search engine and develop it by purchasing the companies Caramail, Spray and Multimania. From 2001 to 2007, she managed the company Club-Internet, an internet access provider and developed its content offerings and services and resold it in 2007 to Neuf Cegetel (today SFR). She then took over as General Manager of the Tests group, the first information group in new technologies, as well as of internet activities from the Nextradiotv group. In 2009, Marie-Christine Levet oriented her career towards venture capital and participated in the creation of Jaina Capital, an investment fund specializing in financing young companies. In 2017, she created Educapital, the first investment fund dedicated to the Education Technology sector. Educapital is today the first European fund impact fund dedicated to Edtech and the Future of Work with 200 million Euros under management and more than 35 investments. Marie-Christine Levet is a board member of Econocom and PMU. Marie-Christine Levet is a graduate of HEC and holds an MBA from INSEAD.
Julien-David Nitlech, independent Board member
Julien-David Nitlech is Managing Partner at IRIS, based in Paris, where he oversees early-stage investment activities across France and Germany. He specializes in technology and software companies, with a particular focus on AI, Deep Tech, and Industry 4.0. Since joining IRIS in 2013, Julien-David has invested in prominent companies including Shift Technology, LeanIX (sold to SAP for 1.2bn€), Exotec, Armis, Monk (sold to ACV), Mailjet (sold to Mailgun), Escape, Lookout, Spinergie, Staffbase and Virtuo among others.
Prior to IRIS, Julien-David Nitlech held significant strategic business roles enabling him to provide valuable portfolio expertise on go-to-market and internationalization. He launched and scaled up Apperian’s European activities, a cloud-based mobile app management platform. At Orange, he developed U.S. strategic and business activities, negotiated major strategic and industrial partnerships, and managed a global device portfolio, contributing substantially to the creation of BuyIn, a joint venture with Deutsche Telekom. He holds a master’s degree in digital Telecommunications, Fluid Dynamics, and Electronics from École Polytechnique, and a master’s degree in computer science from Telecom ParisTech.
Cédric O, independent Board member
Cédric O is an entrepreneur and former Secretary of State for Digital Affairs. He is a non-executive co-founder of the generative AI startup Mistral AI and board member of Artefact, a consultancy firm specializing in data & AI. He is also member of the French national committee on artificial intelligence. Throughout his career, Cédric O has held various positions both in the private and public sectors. He has served alternately as consultant, advisor to the French Minister of Economy and Finance, worked for the aerospace group Safran, and has successively been an advisor to the President of the Republic and then Secretary of State for Digital Affairs during Emmanuel Macron's first term. Cédric O graduated from HEC in 2006. After working for Dominique Strauss-Kahn and then in consulting, Cédric O became advisor to the Minister of Economy and Finance, Pierre Moscovici, between 2012 and 2014. From 2014 to 2017, Cédric O worked for the Safran Group, notably as Group Deputy Industrial Director, responsible for the Factory of the Future project and then as production manager. A founding member of the En Marche political movement and treasurer of the 2017 presidential campaign, Cédric O served as an advisor to the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister in charge of state holdings and digital affairs between 2017 and 2019. In March 2019, he was appointed Secretary of State in charge of the digital transition and electronic communications. In this role, he oversaw the government's innovation policy, the rise of French Tech, as well as international (G7) and European negotiations related to digital regulation. He was notably one of the key figures in the regulations of the Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act during the French presidency of the Council of the European Union. He was also responsible for the digital coverage of the territory and the deployment of 5G, as well as digital tools in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the TousAntiCovid application. Cédric O is a member of the high-level advisory council on space exploration of the European Space Agency.
Alexandre Falkenstein, Board member, Employee representative
Solocal is a listed holding company.
Its operational activities are managed by subsidiaries in two countries: France and Austria.
Statuts Solocal Group
Statuts à jour 25 oct. 2024_0.pdf
Règlement intérieur du Conseil d'Administration
Règlement intérieur du CA (octobre 2020).pdf