Danone: New governance at Danone; Emmanuel Faber steps down as
Chairman and CEO Gilles Schnepp appointed non-executive Chairman
Press Release – Paris, March 15th, 2021
New governance at Danone Emmanuel Faber
steps down as Chairman and CEO Gilles Schnepp appointed
non-executive Chairman
The Board of Danone today announces key
governance changes.
First, the Board has decided that Emmanuel Faber
will step down as Chairman and CEO. As a consequence, it has
appointed Gilles Schnepp as Chairman of the Board with immediate
effect. Second, the Board has decided to appoint Véronique
Penchienati-Bosetta, currently Chief Executive Officer
International, and Shane Grant, currently Chief Executive Officer
North America, to jointly lead the business while the search for a
new CEO is underway. Véronique Penchienati-Bosetta (CEO) and Shane
Grant (deputy CEO) will work together, with a focused attention on
operational execution and delivery.
The immediate priority of the new Chairman,
together with the Board, will be to lead the transition, including
the search for a new CEO. Danone has appointed an international
search agency to support the process. Gilles Schnepp and the
Governance Committee will oversee the search to ensure that a world
leading CEO is found. In his overall mission, Gilles Schnepp will
be supported by the Executive VP Chairman’s Office, Laurent Sacchi,
the Chief Financial Officer, Juergen Esser and the full Executive
Committee.
The Board believes in the necessity of combining
high economic performance and the respect of Danone’s unique model
of a purpose-driven company, built on the strength of its brands
and enabled by the outstanding quality of its teams.
Gilles Schnepp, Chairman of Danone, said:
“I am honoured to be appointed as Chairman of
the Board of Danone at this important time for the company. I have
tremendous regard for Danone’s history and its contribution to
society through its world leading healthy food and beverages, and
commitment to sustainability. The priority of the Board is now to
transition towards an improved governance. This means accelerating
the process to recruit a new CEO, while Véronique and Shane
continue to lead the business during this period. I look forward to
working with the Board to support them in their interim roles, and
the wider management team as they accelerate our efforts to create
value for all our stakeholders.”
“The Board and I want to thank Emmanuel for his
leadership and significant contributions to Danone since 1997, and
since 2014 as CEO and then Chairman & CEO. His vision and
commitment to One Planet. One Health are ahead of the industry and
have ensured that Danone is a world leader on sustainability. He
leaves Danone with a strong platform from which to accelerate and
grow. I also want to take this opportunity to thank Danone
employees around the world that continue to work to grow and build
the business for all consumers, customers and stakeholders.”
Biographies
Gilles Schnepp
Upon graduating from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes
Commerciales (HEC) in 1981, Gilles Schnepp started his career in
1983 at Merrill Lynch France where he became Vice-President. He
then joined Legrand in 1989, holding various positions before being
appointed Chief Operating Officer in 2000. He was appointed to the
Executive Committee and the Board of Directors in 2001 and
Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in 2004. Between 2006 and
2018 he has been Legrand Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
Gilles Schnepp has been Chairman of the Board between 2018 and
2020. Since 2020, he has been an operating advisor of Clayton,
Dubilier & Rice.
He is today also a member of the boards of
Legrand, Saint-Gobain and Sanofi.
Véronique
Penchienati-Bosetta
Véronique Penchienati-Bosetta joined Danone in
2001 in marketing and General Manager roles before being appointed
as Executive Vice President of Growth & Innovation for Danone
in 2017, and as a member of the Danone Executive Committee in 2018.
Véronique led Danone’s Growth & Innovation in e-commerce,
leading to a doubling of sales from 2017 to 2020, and oversaw a 40%
increase in innovation-led initiatives. Véronique became Executive
Vice President of Specialized Nutrition in 2019, before being
appointed Chief Executive Officer International in November 2020.
Prior to Danone, Véronique worked in global health and beauty
companies including Proctor & Gamble, in executive marketing
positions.
Shane Grant
Shane Grant was previously Executive Vice
President and CEO of Danone North America. Before joining Danone,
Shane spent almost 20 years with The Coca-Cola Company, where he
held various leadership roles in marketing, commercial and general
management, including SVP Glacéau and President, Coca-Cola Canada.
Shane was appointed President of the Still beverages business unit
for Coca-Cola North America in January 2019, before joining Danone
in May 2020.
o o O o o
About Danone
(www.danone.com)
Danone is a leading multi-local food and
beverage company building on health-focused and fast-growing
categories in 3 businesses: Essential Dairy & Plant-Based
products, Waters and Specialized Nutrition. With its ‘One Planet.
One Health’ frame of action, which considers the health of people
and the planet as intimately interconnected, Danone aims to inspire
healthier and more sustainable eating and drinking practices. To
accelerate this food revolution and create superior, sustainable,
profitable value for all its stakeholders, Danone has defined nine
2030 Goals, and paved the way as the first listed company to adopt
the “Entreprise à Mission” status in France. With a purpose to
bring health through food to as many people as possible, and
corresponding social, societal and environmental objectives set out
in its articles of association, Danone commits to operating in an
efficient, responsible and inclusive manner, in line with the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. By
2025, Danone aims to become one of the first multinational
companies to obtain B Corp™ certification. With more than 100,000
employees, and products sold in over 120 markets, Danone generated
€23.6 billion in sales in 2020. Danone’s portfolio includes leading
international brands (Actimel, Activia, Alpro, Aptamil, Danette,
Danio, Danonino, evian, Nutricia, Nutrilon, Volvic, among others)
as well as strong local and regional brands (including AQUA,
Blédina, Bonafont, Cow & Gate, Horizon Organic, Mizone, Oikos,
Prostokvashino, Silk, Vega). Listed on Euronext Paris and present
on the OTCQX market via an ADR (American Depositary Receipt)
program, Danone is a component stock of leading sustainability
indexes including the ones managed by Vigeo Eiris and
Sustainalytics, as well as the Ethibel Sustainability Index, the
MSCI ESG Indexes, the FTSE4Good Index Series, Bloomberg Gender
Equality Index, and the Access to Nutrition Index.
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