Letter From the Chair of the Board

Dear Stakeholders, 

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On behalf on the board of directors of Optiva Inc. (“Optiva“), please join us virtually at our annual meeting of  shareholders of Optiva to be held on June 27, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. (Eastern time). 

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Optiva is on a journey to becoming a market leader in the BSS domain. At the onset of the year, Optiva’s focus was  on two things: (1) providing high quality service and support to renew and strengthen our relationships with existing  customers, and (2) defining and executing against our 5G product roadmap to address the market requirements of the  next generation of customers.

 

In a year marked by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Optiva team stepped up to ensure our customers could  continue to provide the vital communication services that the people of the world depend on to keep us connected.  Since the start of the pandemic, Optiva’s in-service BSS products have proven resilient in their design, and with our  renewed investment we have achieved a significant improvement in the quality and delivery of our customer support  and services. We are incredibly proud of our employees and leadership team. 

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Recent R&D efforts have produced the most progress in product development in Optiva’s history. Under the direction  of our Chief Technology Officer, Matt Halligan, the advancement of our product Roadmap has progressed by leaps  and bounds. The market is taking notice, as evidenced by the growing number of telco operators of all sizes testing  and evaluating our cloud offerings. With our core products refreshed, and cloud platform in production, the table is  set for Optiva to be a leading partner for those operators across the globe that are looking for an innovative BSS  provider that operates with agility, while bringing demonstrated experience and the five nines performance that Telcos  demand. 

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Optiva’s Leadership, lead by CEO John Giere, established a Mission Vision Values Framework, which is shaping our  corporate culture and how we work. The framework provides each team member with clear objectives and an  understanding of how their individual objectives are directly linked and contribute to company-wide goals.  Additionally, given R&D-led innovation is at the core of Optiva’s growth strategy, the company has now opened three  R&D Centres of Excellence in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Bengaluru, India, and Osijek, Croatia, where team members  can live and breathe the culture together. 

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While the impact of the corporate initiatives will take several quarters to be fully realized, financial prudence resulted  in significant operating margin improvements. Despite the revenue decline (down 14% to $65.2M) attributed to known  customer departures, Adjusted EBITDA margin increased to 29% in 2021 compared to 10% in the prior year, resulting  in an EBITDA of $18.6M compared to $7.7M in 2020.1 

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In addition to improved financial performance, we are focused on putting in place the people, processes, support  systems and technology that will enable us to scale our business efficiently. As a result of the focused  accomplishments, I am confident Optiva can now serve as a platform for growth both organically and inorganically to the benefit of all stakeholders. Shareholders can be assured that in this pursuit, management and the board are  committed to creating shareholder value utilizing a disciplined approach to allocating capital to investments that meet  our internal hurdle rates. 

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Our accomplishments this year and our ambitions for the future are made possible by our tremendous team across the  world. Their professionalism and dedication are the foundation for everything we have and will accomplish. The next  chapter in Optiva’s history begins now, and we’re excited about what we can accomplish together. 

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The Management Information Circular attached to this letter provides information on the compensation for directors  and executive management, our governance practices, directors to be elected at the meeting and certain other items to  be voted upon as set out in the notice of meeting. 

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If you are unable to attend the virtual meeting, we encourage you to exercise your right to vote by completing the  enclosed form of proxy, or if applicable, the voting instruction form and returning it within the deadline indicated  thereon to ensure your vote is counted as part of the process. 

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On behalf of the Board and the entire organization, we appreciate your continued support.

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Sincerely, 

Robert Stabile 

Chair of the Board, Optiva Inc.

 

1 Adjusted EBITDA and EBITDA are non-IFRS measures. For definitions and reconciliations of non-IFRS financial measures to their most directly  comparable IFRS financial measures, see Schedule II.