Somu Patil to lead Asia and Ward Hansford to lead Oceania

MONTREAL, February 13, 2017 — Following a very successful year in its Asia Pacific (APAC) region, Grass Valley, a Belden Brand, has named Somu Patil as vice president of sales for Asia and Ward Hansford as vice president of sales for Oceania. With this announcement, the company is separating APAC operations into two distinct regions to further improve the customer and partner experience and strengthen its presence at the local level.

"Our teams have helped us to establish Grass Valley as a powerhouse in the overall APAC market and set the organization on course for a solid 2017," noted Stephen Stubelt, senior vice president of global sales, Grass Valley. "The changes we're making are aimed at continuing our growth and addressing the individual business opportunities in each of these areas."

Somu Patil is taking on the role of vice president of sales for Asia, with the regional pre-sales and regional sales operations reporting to him. With more than 20 years in the industry, Patil is based in Hong Kong and has been with Grass Valley since 2013, most recently serving as the regional director for South Asia and ASEAN.

Ward Hansford is joining Grass Valley as vice president of sales for Oceania and is based in Sydney, Australia. Hansford has more than 30 years' experience in sales, general management and marketing with a proven record in creating business growth, strategic planning and focused execution. Prior to joining Grass Valley, he most recently served as head of APAC television at Ericson, covering Southeast Asia and India, excluding Northeast Asia. He has also been with Tandberg Television/Ericsson Australia and Sony Australia and has been active over the years with SMPTE as the Australian Section Chair.

The new Asia region includes the sub regions of China, Japan, North Asia, South Asia and ASEAN, while the new Oceania region includes Australia and New Zealand.

"Under the experienced leadership of Somu and Ward, we're ready to help our partners and customers find the right solutions for the changing demands of the broadcast and production markets," added Stubelt.

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For information about Grass Valley solutions and services, please visit grassvalley.com.

About Grass Valley

Grass Valley is a trusted partner completely focused on empowering customers to create, control and connect content wherever, however and whenever it is consumed. In this ever-changing media landscape, content remains the most important element. Many of our customers are faced with the need to create and support new workflows while continuing to operate their legacy workflows, simultaneously broadcasting through traditional channels, Over-The-Top platforms, and Video-On-Demand as well as to tablets, PCs, and mobile devices.

We provide the innovative tools and expertise to help customers improve the efficiency of their operations while telling better stories to attract and keep viewers. With Grass Valley's integrated solutions that enable flexibility, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, quality and scalability, broadcasters and content creators have what they need to sustain their businesses. Headquartered in Montreal, Grass Valley has been in the broadcast business for nearly 60 years and is part of St. Louis-based Belden Inc. For more information, visit www.belden.com.

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