To this day, Xavier Drilhon was Deputy Managing Director of François-Charles Oberthur Group which he joined in 1994, participating for nearly three years in the development of the fiduciary printing activity in the United States.

He joined the card activity early in 1998 where he held various responsibilities in the industrial and commercial fields.

In 1999, he played a key role in the purchase of the De La Rue Group's card division, in the merger with Oberthur Card Systems as Director of Corporate Operations and in its IPO in 2000.

He greatly contributed to the international development of Oberthur Card Systems with the opening of sales offices, the setting-up of manufacturing plants and personalisation centres or the buyout of companies.

He reinforced the competitiveness of the group with the synchronisation and the over-all leading of the global production capacities or the management of various restructuration plans.

Since 2008, at the head of the Card Systems Division, he has improved the economic results despite the 2009 global recessionary period, created a new product line in convergence solutions and took an active part in the purchase and integration of the company XponCard.

Graduate of Telecom Sud Paris and of Harvard Business School (PMD 72), Xavier began his career at Arthur Andersen and KPMG Peat Marwick.

44 years old, Xavier is married with four children.

Pascal Stefani, Chairman of Oberthur Technologies' Board and Managing Director of Advent International in Paris, is delighted with this announcement: "The buyout by Advent International paves the way for Oberthur Technologies and the appointment of Xavier Drilhon as CEO and Board member shows our trust in his capacity to establish a strategy of growth and to lead the management team that he has built up over many years. Xavier will continue to provide the benefit of his experience in the field to the company but also his deep knowledge of the industry and his technical expertise acquired over the course of the past 15 years. In the long term I am sure that he will contribute to significantly strengthen Oberthur Technologies' position in a high potential industry undergoing significant changes."