At age 41, Marie-Christine Coisne-Roquette took leadership of the family-owned Sonepar group, a worldwide wholesale distributor of electrical equipment.

Marie-Christine Coisne-Roquette has a bachelor’s degree in English. A lawyer by training, with a French Master’s Degree in Law and a Specialized Law Certificate from the New York bar, she started her career as an attorney in 1981 at the Paris and New York bars, as a partner at Cabinet Sonier & Associés law firm in Paris.

In 1984, she joined the Board of Directors of the family holding company, Colam Entreprendre, and gave up her law career in 1988 to work full-time for the family group. As Chairman of the Colam Entreprendre Executive Board and of the Sonepar Supervisory Board, she consolidated family ownership, reorganized the Group structures and reinforced the shareholders’ group to sustain its long-term strategy.

Chairman & CEO of Sonepar as of 2002, then Chairman of the Board of Sonepar, Marie-Christine Coisne-Roquette is since May 27, 2016 Chairman of Sonepar SAS. She heads also Colam Entreprendre as its Chairman.

Formerly a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), she served the MEDEF (France’s main employers’ association) as Executive Committee member from 2000 to 2013 and Chairman of the Tax Commission for the last eight years. She was a member of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council, a French consultative assembly, between 2013 and 2015, taking part in the Environment Section. She joined the Board of TotalEnergies in 2011 and she currently serves as its lead director.

A privately-owned independent Group, Sonepar (www.sonepar.com) is the world leader in the distribution of electrical products, solutions and related services. Operating in 40 countries across five continents, the Group’s 45,000 associates generated annual sales over €26 billion euros in 2021.

Although Paris-based, Sonepar generates more than 90% of its sales outside of France and is ranked number one in Europe and in North America. Its financial strength and stable ownership ensure its independence and long-term engagement with the electrical products sector and energy transition.