CAE's Sonya Branco appointed Chief Financial Officer

MONTREAL, CANADA--(Marketwired - March 2, 2016) - (NYSE:CAE)(TSX:CAE) - CAE today announced that it has appointed Sonya Branco as the Company's Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer, effective May 23, 2016, after the Company has reported its fiscal 2016 year-end results. She succeeds Stephane Lefebvre who has recently accepted a leadership position with le Cirque du Soleil, a company held by private equity.

"I am very pleased to welcome Sonya Branco in her new role of CFO. Sonya is a highly skilled and successful financial executive and a strong leader within CAE," said Marc Parent, CAE's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We are fortunate to have someone of Sonya's caliber to join the executive team and to provide continuity to the good financial stewardship of her predecessor. This transition is testament to our executive succession plan. Stephane has been a valued member of CAE's executive management team and he leaves the Company in a position of financial strength and with a solid footing to pursue our training partner of choice vision. I believe I speak for all at CAE in wishing him great success in his new venture."

Sonya Branco has more than 15 years' experience as a financial officer. She joined CAE in 2008 and her most recent role was Vice President and Corporate Controller. Her diverse background includes valuable experience in public accounting and financial reporting, strategic planning and mergers and acquisitions.

Prior to joining CAE, Ms. Branco worked at BCE in Mergers & Acquisitions and at PricewaterhouseCoopers where she practiced in Audit and Advisory services. She is a chartered professional accountant and she holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Concordia University and a Master's degree in Business Administration from McGill University's Desautels Faculty of Management. Ms. Branco has received numerous awards and is a Gold Medalist of the Ordre des comptables agréés du Québec.

About CAE

CAE is a global leader in the delivery of training for the civil aviation, defence and security, and healthcare markets. We design and integrate the industry's most comprehensive training solutions, anchored by the knowledge and expertise of our 8,000 employees, our world-leading simulation technologies and a track record of service and technology innovation spanning nearly seven decades. Our global presence is the broadest in the industry, with 160 sites and training locations in 35 countries, including our joint venture operations, and the world's largest installed base of flight simulators. Each year, we train more than 120,000 civil and defence crewmembers, as well as thousands of healthcare professionals worldwide.