Affinion Group Announces Changes to Strengthen its Management Team, Deepen its Leadership Reserves

NORWALK, Conn., Jan. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Affinion Group, Inc., a global leader in customer engagement solutions that enhance and extend the relationship and loyalty of millions of consumers of financial services, retail, hospitality and e-commerce companies, announced today that Steve Upshaw, CEO of Affinion International, has been named to the additional position of President, Affinion Group.  

Mr. Upshaw will remain the CEO of Affinion International and will continue to report to Nathaniel Lipman, Affinion Group's Chairman and CEO, who previously also held the position of Affinion Group President.

Continuing in their roles and reporting to Mr. Lipman are Todd Siegel, Affinion Group's Chief Financial Officer, Tom Rusin, President and CEO of Affinion North America, and Len Ciriello, Affinion Group's General Counsel.

"Steve's leadership and strategic vision have significantly enhanced Affinion's financial and competitive positioning over these past 5 years," said Mr. Lipman.  "We are very pleased with the balance of strengths, skills and leadership that Steve, Todd, Tom, Len and Bob Rooney, our Chief Operating Officer, bring to the table, and this executive leadership team now has more than 50 years of combined experience with Affinion.

"With this expanded role for Steve, we hope to further deepen the experiences of our leadership team overall, and to increase our focus on the areas of the business that will help us most effectively capitalize on the tremendous opportunities that lie ahead for Affinion."

Mr. Upshaw has been with Affinion since 1995, and has led Affinion International since 2005.  During his tenure with Affinion International, the division rapidly increased its revenue by more than a third while simultaneously improving its profitability, successfully diversified its revenue portfolio through the launch of new retail programs now servicing more than 600,000 subscribers, and significantly expanded its geographic footprint.

As President, Mr. Upshaw will have responsibility for the Company's overall operations and systems, including information technology, data security, customer service, billing and general administration.

Mr. Upshaw will be based out of the Company's headquarters in Connecticut.

About Affinion Group

As a global leader with more than 35 years of experience, Affinion Group enhances the value of its partners' customer relationships by developing and marketing loyalty solutions. Leveraging its expertise in customer engagement, product development and targeted marketing, Affinion provides programs in subscription-based lifestyle services, personal protection, insurance and other areas to help generate increased customer loyalty and significant incremental revenue for more than 5,500 marketing partners worldwide, including many of the largest and most respected companies in financial services, retail, travel, and Internet commerce. Based in Norwalk, Conn., the company has approximately 3,550 employees throughout the United States and in 12 countries, primarily in Europe, and markets in 15 countries globally. Affinion holds the prestigious ISO 27001 certification for the highest information security practices, is PCI compliant and Cybertrust certified. For more information, visit www.affinion.com.  

Safe Harbor Statement

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding Affinion Group's business which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year and other periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time.

SOURCE Affinion Group, Inc.