Sonova’s Board of Directors nominates Dr. Beat Hess as a new board member

“It is with great pleasure that we propose Dr. Beat Hess as a new member to the Board of Directors. With his international and broad legal experience, including in the areas of corporate governance, compliance and risk management, Dr. Beat Hess complements the current Board of Directors perfectly“ says Robert Spoerry, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sonova Holding AG. Dr. Beat Hess (born in 1949), Swiss citizen, studied at the Universities of Geneva, Freiburg and Miami, is an attorney-at-law and holds a Ph.D in Law. From 1988 to 2003, Dr. Beat Hess served as General Counsel of ABB Group and, from 2003 to 2011, as Group Legal Director and Member of the Group Executive Committee of Royal Dutch Shell plc. Dr. Beat Hess is a member of the Board of Directors of Nestlé S.A. and of Holcim Ltd.

As already communicated, William D. Dearstyne who has served on the Board of Sonova Holding AG for many years, will retire at the 2012 Annual General Meeting. The organizational regulations of Sonova Holding AG provide for an automatic retirement at the Annual General Meeting following the completion of the 70^th year of age. The Board of Directors, for the reasons explained in the invitation to the 2011 Annual General Meeting and pursuant to the exception clause in the organizational regulations, granted an extension to William D. Dearstyne’s term of office for one year, until the Annual General Meeting in June 2012.

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