Loyalist Group Limited announced that the company appointed Shant Poladian as Chairman and Chief Restructuring Officer, appointed Salim Maherali to the Board of Directors and has accepted resignations from each of Martin Bernholtz and Rehan Huda as independent directors. The first stage closing and the changes to senior management and the Board are effective as of July 3, 2015. During the period of forbearance with the company's senior lender, the Board has unanimously determined that it is in the best interests of the company and its stakeholders to appoint Shant Poladian as Chief Restructuring Officer.

Shawn Klerer, Chief Executive Officer, and Frank Salvati, Chief Financial Officer, will report directly to the Chief Restructuring Officer. Mr. Poladian's former appointment as Division President, Student Housing of the company will be placed on hold during the forbearance period. Mr. Poladian is expected to return to his former position following completion of the company's recapitalization and restructuring activities.

The primary purpose of the newly created CRO role is to oversee key aspects of the recapitalization and restructuring of the company in order to allow the CEO and CFO to focus on normal course business operations. This new CRO role is intended to ensure a proper flow of communication between internal and external parties and to limit the number of possible distractions which would otherwise impede the abilities of the CEO and the CFO to dedicate their time and energy to the essential day to day activities of the company. Salim Maherali is presently Managing Director, Digital Marketing for Adobe Canada.

He worked in Sears Canada as CIO and SVP ­ eCommerce and digital marketing and McKinsey & Company as Associate Partner.