Roland : Notice of Change of Representative Director and CEO

Translation

Note: This document has been translated from the Japanese original for reference purposes only. In the event of any discrepancy between this translated document and the Japanese original, the Japanese original shall prevail.

	9 May 2024
Company:	Roland Corporation
Representative:	Gordon Raison, CEO & Representative Director
	(Securities Code: 7944; TSE Prime)
Contact:	Yuichi Hakamata, CFO & Executive Officer
	(Tel. [phone])

Notice of Change of Representative Director and CEO

Roland Corporation (the "Company") hereby announces that the Company made the following change of CEO at the Board of Directors Meeting held today.

1． Reason for the change

Gordon Raison, Representative Director and CEO of the Company, has tendered his resignation as Representative Director and CEO effective June 30, 2024, for personal reasons. In response, the Company's Board of Directors today resolved to select Masahiro Minowa, Representative Director, COO and CIO, as Representative Director, CEO and CIO.

2. Details of the change

Name	New position	Current position
Masahiro Minowa	Representative Director CEO, CIO	Representative Director COO, CIO
Gordon Raison	(Resignation)	Representative Director CEO

*Gordon Raison is scheduled to assume the position of advisor to the Company.

1. Toshihiko Oinuma's Comments (Chairperson of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee, Outside Director)

The Company's Board of Directors fully respect Mr. Raison's decision to put his family first. We honor and thank him for his contribution to Roland. His accomplishments are too numerous to list, but we would like to take this opportunity to share with you some highlights of his outstanding achievements.

1. Mr. Raison deeply promoted globalization of the Company by building a structure which allowed Japan Headquarters and overseas subsidiaries to work strongly together, enabling the Company to function organically as "One Roland".
2. With his leadership experience in Sales, he brought a transformation strategy to the Company objective of becoming "Marketing Driven Company", which former CEO, Mr. Miki also had worked to achieve.
3. He brought a success in the acquisition of Drum Workshop through his network as a non- Japanese CEO, and built the foundation of future growth of the Drums & Percussion business of Roland.

4. Through outstanding communication skills, he built trust and confidence in the securities market in the Company's performance and prospects.

We are sure Mr. Raison will support the new CEO, Mr. Minowa as an adviser, and continue to contribute to Roland from United Kingdom to the extent possible.

The Board of Directors will supervise the business operation by the new CEO, Mr. Minowa, and promote sustainable enhancement of corporate value by fully utilizing the expertise of each member.

1. Gordon Raison's Comments

Since joining the Company in 2013, under the leadership of former CEO, Mr. Miki, we have gone through an amazing transformation. We completed an MBO, delisting from the TSE in 2014, and achieved a truly miraculous turnaround that positively impacted ever area of the business. In December 2020 we relisted and have seen a continuous improvement in our products that have led to improving sales and profit. I took over the baton as CEO from Mr. Miki in March 2022.

As CEO, my vision has been the creation of a strong, cohesive team of Roland employees working around the world to ensure the Company's growth as a "Japanese Global Company," and then to pass the baton to the next generation of Roland leadership.

The global pandemic caused major disruption in the musical instrument market, but the Roland management team, including Mr. Minowa, the next CEO, responded swiftly to this change in the environment. As a result of great teamwork and a focus on agility, Roland have emerged from this global crisis a stronger and better company.

Music performance and creation are rooted in the fundamental desires and culture of human beings. Therefore, despite experiencing various crises in the past, the musical instruments industry is one that continues to grow over the long term, and Roland is now poised for its next phase of growth. With this in mind, at the same time as dealing with the coronavirus crisis I made a number of investments in preparation for the next phase of growth, namely, the acquisition of Drum Workshop in October 2022, the expansion of our Cloud infrastructure and offerings and the renewal of our core infrastructure. I am confident that these investments will support Roland's future growth.

As a future CEO, Mr. Minowa has been in charge of the technology and marketing divisions as Director and CIO since March 2022, and expanded his management responsibilities as Representative Director COO and CIO in March 2024. With his technical background, his leadership in the growth of our Cloud capabilities and with extensive experience in sales and marketing, Mr. Minowa is the perfect person to steadily implement the current medium-term management plan and to ensure the development of the Roland Cloud business, which is the key to Roland's future success. Originally, I was scheduled to hand over the baton to Mr. Minowa after the expiration of this current term, but due to family circumstances, I have to return to the United Kingdom and be replaced during my term.

I will be stepping down from all positions at the end of June, but I will be supporting Mr. Minowa and the Roland management as an advisor until the end of the term. I appreciate your support. Thank you very much.

(3) Masahiro Minowa's Comments

While this change is taking place earlier than planned due to CEO, Mr. Raison's family circumstances, I am grateful for the confidence of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee and the Board of Directors, and I am very proud to lead Roland as it continues to create new music history, by taking over the challenges that I have been advancing with Mr. Raison.

Roland is about to move on to the next stage after a second founding phase after an MBO and a true globalization phase after a re-listing.

I have had a strong interest in playing the piano and keyboard since I was a child, and I have enjoyed playing. On the other hand, I was not very good at reading sheet music and playing, and gradually drifted away from playing musical instruments. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to form a band in high school and discovered the joy of playing music with friends. When I was in college, computers and the Internet were in their infancy, and I was immersed in the possibility of creating music and co- creating music with people all over the world using electronic musical instruments, computers, and the Internet even if I couldn't play it myself. While discussing ideas and technologies with like-minded people from all over the world, I was excited about the future of music, and after graduating from university, I joined Roland in 1996 with great ambitions.

While everything around us, including not only computers and smartphones, but also home appliances and cars, are now leveraging Internet connectivity to bring a lot of added value to users, electronic musical instruments have only just begun to take off. By further expanding the Roland Cloud content and services that we are currently promoting, and by increasing the ratio of hardware compatible with Roland Cloud, we are confident that we can provide a new UX (User Experience) to even more music lovers and create a new music culture.

As we take on new challenges with even greater speed than before, we can all look forward to the future of Roland.

3. Career Summary of New Representative Director CEO and CIO

Name			Number of
	Career summary	shares of the
Date of birth
		Company held
	April 1996	Joined Roland Corporation
Masahiro	January 2016 General Manager, RPG Company Planning
	Dept.
Minowa
September 2017 Executive Officer, RPG Company President
Date of birth:	300
January 2018 Executive Officer, RPG Development
December 21,
	Division
1972
March 2022	Director, CIO
	March 2024	Representative Director, COO, CIO (current)

4. New Position (Representative Director CEO, CIO) Scheduled Date of Appointment July 1, 2024