Congruex Appoints Robert Vrij And John Schanz To Board Of Directors

BOULDER, Colo., Nov. 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Congruex, a company established for the purpose of building a nationwide platform that delivers end-to-end engineering, construction and maintenance services to broadband service providers and utility operators across the country, today announced the appointment of Robert Vrij and John Schanz to the Company's Board of Directors.

Messrs. Vrij and Schanz will work closely with Congruex founders, Bill Beans and Kevin O'Hara, to build a best-in-class engineering and construction management platform, with the objective of becoming one of the largest pure-play network engineering firms in the nation.

We are honored to welcome Robert Vrij and John Schanz to Congruex's Board of Directors, said Kevin O'Hara, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Congruex.  Mr. O'Hara continued, "Throughout their respective careers, Robert and John have consistently distinguished themselves as visionaries, earning the praise of their peers and the broader industry.  Their contribution to our Board will be significant, and we look forward to drawing on their unparalleled expertise as we build a best-in-class network engineering and construction platform."

Brian Cassidy, Partner at Crestview and co-head of the firm's media investment strategy, said, "Robert Vrij and John Schanz are a perfect fit for Congruex.  Their respective expertise as industry pioneers and leaders, will serve invaluable as Congruex builds a nationwide platform to deliver differentiated engineering and construction solutions.  We are excited for what the future of Congruex holds and look forward to our close partnership with the Company's founders, Bill Beans and Kevin O'Hara."

Bios of Robert Vrij and John Schanz

Robert Vrij has more than 25 years of industry experience, most recently serving as Senior Vice President of Hewlett Packard's Enterprises Group and managing director of HPE Americas.

Prior to HPE, Mr. Vrij spent five years at Alcatel-Lucent USA as executive vice president and chief of global sales and marketing, as well as president and chairman of Alcatel-Lucent USA.  In these roles, he was responsible for managing $15 billion in sales, as well as global alliances, marketing and communications. Prior to Alcatel-Lucent, Mr. Vrij spent nearly a decade at AT&T and Lucent Technologies, advancing from sales management to become president and CEO of Lucent Technologies for EMEA.  He has also run a small to mid-size public company and worked as an executive in start-ups, such as Openwave Systems, a leading provider of software applications and infrastructure and Genband Inc., a provider of IP solutions to service providers.

Mr. Vrij earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Southwest Texas State University and a Master of Business Administration from St. Thomas University in Houston.

John Schanz has been instrumental in building some of the world's most powerful and reliable networks.  He is widely recognized as a key contributor to the massive scaling and advancement of Internet infrastructure.  

Mr. Schanz is currently a Senior Advisor at BBH Capital Partners, Graham Partners and TDF Ventures, and a member of the Board of LiquidSky.  He previously held senior leadership positions at Comcast, Sprint, GE and AOL.  As the former Chief Network Officer of Comcast Cable, Mr. Schanz led a team of 5,000 FTEs, transforming the culture and talent to champion changes from historic norms.  Likewise, he scaled the world's largest 24xForever network and infrastructure, which supports five multibillion-dollar business units.  Moreover, Mr. Schanz helped scale the global Internet core at Sprint, and along with his team, enabled AOL to grow into the predominant Internet Service Provider of its era.  Mr. Schanz has also been a leader in cybersecurity, streamlining risk management to protect customers, employees and technology infrastructure.

Mr. Schanz earned an Electrical Engineering degree at Manhattan College.  He is the recipient of the 2013 National Cable & Telecommunications Association Vanguard Award in Science & Technology.  In 2012, InfoWorld recognized Mr. Schanz with a Technology Leadership Award.  The Chairman of the FCC has also previously appointed him to chair the FCC's Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council.

About Congruex
Congruex is comprised of seasoned industry executives bringing together leading engineering and construction companies across the U.S. Congruex is building a company with unique capabilities ranging from network development, engineering, construction and operations. Our customers benefit from the integrated skills that the Congruex companies can offer either as a single discipline, or as a turn-key solution with self-perform capabilities.

Congruex was formed in mid-2017 by industry executives, Bill Beans and Kevin O'Hara, in partnership with Crestview Partners.  Funds managed by Crestview and the Congruex leadership team have committed up to $200 million of equity as part of what is expected to be a total investment of approximately $500 million.

For more information: www.congruex.com.

About Crestview Partners
Founded in 2004, Crestview Partners is a value-oriented private equity firm focused on the middle market. The firm is based in New York and manages funds with over $7 billion of aggregate capital commitments. The firm is led by a group of partners who have complementary experience and distinguished backgrounds in private equity, finance, operations and management. Crestview has senior investment professionals focused on sourcing and managing investments in each of the specialty areas of the firm: media, industrials, energy and financial services. For more information: www.crestview.com.

Media Contact:
Daniel Yunger
Kekst
212-521-4800
[email protected]

SOURCE Crestview Partners

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