MBC Group appoints new CEO

Marc Antoine d’Halluin begins January 5, following the resignation of Sam Barnett

MBC Group chief executive Marc Antoine d'Halluin will focus on moving the company forward in line with its five-year growth plan. Courtesy of MBC Group. 

MBC Group appointed Marc Antoine d’Halluin, former chairman of Luxembourg-based television provider M7, as its chief executive, the Arab broadcaster said.

Mr D’Halluin, who also served as chief executive of OSN from 2006 to 2010, replaces Sam Barnett who resigned from MBC in October.

Mr Barnett was at the helm since 2011 having first joined the company as director of operations in 2002, according to his LinkedIn profile. Following his departure, he will serve as advisor to MBC's board after a 17-year stint in the company.

Scheduled to join MBC Group on January 5, Mr D'Halluin brings a wealth of experience, a track-record of corporate growth and value creation in the broadcast industry, said Waleed Al Ibrahim, chairman of MBC Group, in a statement on Monday.

The new chief executive will focus on "moving the group forward in-line with the five-year growth plan for the organisation that was announced in Q4 2018," according to the statement.

Mr D’Halluin, who began his career at Sony Pictures Entertainment in 1995 to 1997, highlighted the importance of working closely with the group’s executives, managers and employees "in pursuit of set targets", the statement said without elaborating.

Mr D'Halluin holds a master's degree in Business Administration from Harvard Business School and an international media career in television and production. Prior to joining MBC Group, he was the chairman of the Luxembourg-based M7 Group in 2016 to 2019, which operates satellite Pay TV bouquets in Holland, Belgium, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. M7 Group was recently sold to Vivendi's Canal+ Group for 1 billion euros.

MBC was launched in 1991 in London before relocating to Dubai. The broadcasting company is behind many hit television programmes in the region, including Arabs Got Talent.