Real Matters Announces Changes to its Board of Directors

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 7, 2024--

Real Matters Inc. (“Real Matters” or the “Company”), a leading network management services provider for the mortgage lending and insurance industries, today announced that Lisa Melchior will be stepping down after serving on the Real Matters Board since 2017. The Company also announced the appointment of Kay Brekken to its Board of Directors. Ms. Brekken will succeed Ms. Melchior as a member of the Compensation, Nomination and Governance Committee. The changes are effective May 7, 2024.

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“I am honoured to have been part of Real Matters’ journey since the IPO, and to have seen the management team successfully navigate the business through periods of growth as well as challenging market conditions,” said Lisa Melchior. “Real Matters has an exceptional management team, and I am confident that they will continue to advance the Company’s market leadership position and execute on its strategy while creating long-term value for shareholders.”

“On behalf of my fellow directors and the Real Matters management team, I would like to thank Lisa for her service and strategic input over the last seven years. Her insights and experience provided an invaluable contribution to the company. We wish her continued success,” said Real Matters Chairman Jason Smith. “We are very pleased to welcome Kay as a new director. Her background and experience in real estate and financial services will be an asset to our Board. We look forward to her contribution as we continue to execute on our long-term strategy.” added Jason Smith.

Kay Brekken is a Corporate Director with more than 25 years of North American financial leadership experience in a broad range of industries including real estate, retail, healthcare and financial services. Prior to her retirement, Ms. Brekken was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of First Capital Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX: FCR.UN) from 2014 to 2021. Prior to First Capital REIT, she was the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Indigo Books & Music, Inc. (TSX: IDG). Ms. Brekken serves on the boards of Allied Properties REIT (TSX: AP.UN) RATESDOTCA Group Ltd. and on the advisory board of the Rotman School of Management CFO Leadership Program. She is a Certified Public Accountant and she holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Minnesota, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Washington.

About Real Matters

Real Matters is a leading network management services provider for the mortgage lending and insurance industries. Real Matters’ platform combines its proprietary technology and network management capabilities with tens of thousands of independent qualified field professionals to create an efficient marketplace for the provision of mortgage lending and insurance industry services. Our clients include top 100 mortgage lenders in the U.S. and some of the largest banks and insurance companies in Canada. We are a leading independent provider of residential real estate appraisals to the mortgage market and a leading independent provider of title and mortgage closing services in the U.S. Headquartered in Markham (ON), Real Matters has principal offices in Buffalo (NY) and Middletown (RI). Real Matters is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol REAL. For more information, visit www.realmatters.com.

Kay Brekken (Photo: Business Wire)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered a “hard landing” on Sunday, Iranian state media reported, without immediately elaborating.

Raisi was traveling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. State TV said the incident happened near Jolfa, a city on the border with with the nation of Azerbaijan, some 600 kilometers (375 miles) northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Traveling with Raisi were Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran's East Azerbaijan province and other officials, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. One local government official used the word “crash” to describe the incident, but he acknowledged to an Iranian newspaper that he had yet to reach the site himself.

Neither IRNA nor state TV offered any information on Raisi’s condition.

Rescuers were attempting to reach the site, state TV said, but had been hampered by poor weather conditions. There had been heavy rain and fog reported with some wind. IRNA called the area a "forest."

Raisi had been in Azerbaijan early Sunday to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev. The dam is the third one that the two nations built on the Aras River. The visit came despite chilly relations between the two nations, including over a gun attack on Azerbaijan's Embassy in Tehran in 2023, and Azerbaijan's diplomatic relations with Israel, which Iran's Shiite theocracy views as its main enemy in the region.

Iran flies a variety of helicopters in the country, but international sanctions make it difficult to obtain parts for them. Its military air fleet also largely dates back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Raisi, 63, is a hard-liner who formerly led the country’s judiciary. He is viewed as a protégé of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some analysts have suggested he could replace the 85-year-old leader after his death or resignation from the role.

Raisi won Iran's 2021 presidential election, a vote that saw the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic’s history. Raisi is sanctioned by the U.S. in part over his involvement in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 at the end of the bloody Iran-Iraq war.

Under Raisi, Iran now enriches uranium at nearly weapons-grade levels and hampers international inspections. Iran has armed Russia in its war on Ukraine, as well as launched a massive drone-and-missile attack on Israel amid its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It also has continued arming proxy groups in the Mideast, like Yemen's Houthi rebels and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

FILE- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi places his hands on his heart as a gesture of respect to the crowd during the funeral ceremony of the victims of Wednesday's bomb explosion in the city of Kerman about 510 miles (820 kms) southeast of the capital Tehran, Iran, Jan. 5, 2024. A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered a “hard landing” on Sunday, May 19, 2024, Iranian state television reported, without immediately elaborating. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)