Sonova Appoints Group Vice President of Retail Business

Sonova Holding AG, Stäfa, Switzerland, a leading provider of hearing solutions, has announced the appointment of Christophe Fond to the position of Group Vice President Retail, effective February 1, 2017. In this role Fond will oversee Sonova’s global retail business. He will join Sonova’s Management Board and report directly to Lukas Braunschweiler, CEO of Sonova Holding AG.

“Our recent acquisition of AudioNova underpins the increasing importance of our global retail business, which allows us to get closer to our customers by providing best-in-class audiological services,” said Braunschweiler. We are very pleased that with Mr Fond we were able to win an internationally experienced manager. His strong track-record in the optical retail industry, where he was responsible for managing a fast growing store network, will be extremely valuable in further advancing our retail strategy and leading the successful integration of AudioNova.”

Fond, a French citizen, joins Sonova from GrandVision, a global leader in optical retail, which operates over 6,000 stores in 44 different countries, generating sales of over EUR 3.2 billion in 2015. Most recently, he held the role of President Latin America while also supporting expansion in Asia and the US. He also was a member of the Executive Board of GrandVision. During his tenure, the business expanded rapidly through both network expansion and acquisitions, providing him with extensive experience in managing integration activities and optimizing business processes across all functional areas.

Prior to joining GrandVision, Fond held various roles of increasing responsibility at Pearle, Bata, and FNAC. He received an Executive Master of Business Administration from IMD-Switzerland and has a law degree from Université Paris X Nanterre, France.

Source: Sonova Holding AG

Image credits: Sonova; Christophe Fond, GrandVision