Appointment of flybuys Chief Executive Officer

20 November 2018

APPOINTMENT OF FLYBUYS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Wesfarmers and Coles are pleased to announce that John Merakovsky has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of leading loyalty and data company flybuys.

Mr Merakovsky is currently CEO and Managing Director of ASX-listed Integrated Research Ltd, a leading provider of performance monitoring and management systems for digital unified communications, payment hubs and contact centres in 60 countries. He was previously General Manager of SEEK Learning, part of leading Australian online employment platform SEEK, and before that Managing Director and CEO Australia and New Zealand for global marketing and credit services provider Experian. Mr Merakovsky will start his new role in February 2019.

flybuys is one of Australia’s most popular loyalty programs with more than eight million active members covering two thirds of Australian households, and more than 20 major partners including Coles Supermarkets, Coles Express, First Choice Liquor, Liquorland, Kmart, Target, Medibank, AGL, Adidas, NAB, eBay and Kleenheat.

It is owned and operated by a stand-alone company in which Wesfarmers and Coles will continue to each own a 50 per cent shareholding following the scheduled implementation of Coles demerger from Wesfarmers on 28 November 2018.

Wesfarmers Managing Director and flybuys Chairman Rob Scott said Mr Merakovsky would bring extensive leadership experience in technology and digital companies to his new role and help drive flybuys to realise its full potential as a loyalty and data company.

“John has extensive experience in commercialising technologies and leading companies to achieve their customer strategy through leveraging data and digital capabilities,” Mr Scott said. “This is an important step as flybuys looks to expand its current reach and move into new segments and services for its members.”

Coles Managing Director Steven Cain said he was confident Mr Merakovsky’s experience leading digital and data driven businesses would help Coles deliver its strategy to make life easier for its customers.

“We’re excited about the next phase of growth and innovation for flybuys and delivering even better value and more relevant offers for Coles’ customers around Australia,” Mr Cain said.