Element Fleet Management announced the appointment of Samir Zabaneh as Chief Financial Officer of the Company effective immediately.
“I welcome Samir Zabaneh as a valuable addition to Element’s Executive Leadership Team. Samir brings significant strategic, operations and financial technology expertise to Element, having recently served as the CFO of a NYSE-listed Fortune 1000 company that was a leader in the U.S. payment processing industry,” said Bradley Nullmeyer, Element’s Chief Executive Officer.
Most recently, Mr. Zabaneh was the Chief Financial Officer of Heartland Payment Systems (NYSE: HPY), a leading provider of electronic payment and related technology platforms, where Mr. Zabaneh was responsible for all financial aspects of the company, including reporting, treasury, tax, financial planning, corporate development and M&A. In addition, Mr. Zabaneh was responsible for investor relations and related communication, as well as the development and implementation of the corporate strategy. Heartland was acquired by Global Payments in April 2016. Following the acquisition, Mr. Zabaneh was instrumental in overseeing the integration of Heartland into Global Payments.
Previously, Mr. Zabaneh held senior leadership roles in finance, strategy and operations at Moneris Solutions, Fortress Investment Group, Q9 Networks, CIT, and PricewaterhouseCoopers, having started his career at Ernst & Young in Boston. Mr. Zabaneh holds a Master of Science Degree in Finance from Boston College and an MBA from Suffolk University in Boston. Mr. Zabaneh is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the AICPA.
“I am thrilled to become part of the leading team in fleet management services,” said Samir Zabaneh, Element’s Chief Financial Officer. “In an industry living through transformation, Element’s scale and reputation as a technology and data driven company present a truly exciting opportunity to make an impact and contribute to our continued success and enhancing shareholder value,” added Mr. Zabaneh.
Michel Béland served continuously as the Chief Financial Officer of Element Financial Corporation, Element’s predecessor company, since July 2011. Mr. Béland has also served as the Chief Financial Officer of ECN Capital Corp. under a Transition Services Agreement (“TSA”) since the separation of Element Fleet Management Corp. and ECN Capital Corp. on October 3, 2016, (the “Separation Transaction”). Effective today, Mr. Béland has accepted a Chief Financial Officer position at ECN Capital. Mr. Béland will continue to be available under the terms of the TSA to assist Mr. Zabaneh in the assumption of his responsibilities.
“I want to acknowledge the very fundamental contribution that Michel Béland made over the last five years in building the solid foundation on which Element Fleet Management now stands,” said Mr. Nullmeyer. “Under his leadership, Element successfully closed and integrated a series of strategic acquisitions, raised more than $5.8 billion in debt and equity capital and managed the company through last year’s Separation Transaction,” added Mr. Nullmeyer.