Industrial Executive & Board Moves | Q1 2024

Industrial Board Moves

ABB

• Gunnar Brock and Jacob Wallenberg left roles as Independent Director and Vice Chairman (Independent Director) at ABB. They are succeeded by Mats Rahmström and Johan Patrik Forssell.

ADECCO

• Ariane Gorin and David Prince will leave their role as Independent Directors at ADECCO. Simultaneously, Stefano Grassi was elected to the Board of Directors of the company.

Aryzta

• Cornelia Gehrig will start a role as Non-Executive Director at Aryzta, starting in April 2024. Gehrig has a proven track record as group CFO in international companies and as an independent board member. Her expertise in transformation, M&A activities and growth strategies will support Aryzta’s expansion strategy.

Autoneum

• Norbert Indlekofer has changed role from Independent Board Member to Independent Vice Chairman in March 2024.

BB Biotech

• Chairman of the Board since 2013, Dr. Erich Hunziker has informed the Board of Directors that he will not stand for re-election at the upcoming Annual General Meeting and will step down. Dr. Thomas von Planta, a member of the Board of Directors since 2019, will be proposed to the AGM in March 2024 as Dr. Hunziker’s successor.

• Camilla Soenderby will be proposed as a new Director at the AGM. Soenderby has held executive roles at leading biopharmaceutical companies in the EU, the US and Asia and is also a board member of F2G and Affibody, advisor to the private equity group EQT and a member of the Novo Advisory Group.

Burckhardt Compression Holding

• Tatiana Gillitzer will join as a new member of the Board of Directors at Burckhard Compression.

• After 12 years of dedicated service, Dr. Monika Krüsi decided not to stand for re-election as a member of the Board of Directors of Burckhardt Compression Holding and will leave the role of Independent Board Member.

Coltene

• Niklaus (Nick) Henri Huber is not standing for re-election. He will be succeeded by Matthias Altendorf as Chairman of Coltene in Spring 2025.

• Edgar Schönbächler will start a role as Independent Board Member as of April 2024.

• Pr. Dr. Roland Weiger will leave a role as Independent Board Member of Coltene.

Comet

• Comet will proposed to the Annual General Meeting in April 2024, the election of Paul Boudre as successor to Heinz Kundert as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

• At the same time, Benjamin Loh was proposed to the AGM to succeed Tosja Zywietz, who did not stand for re-election as a member of the Board of Directors.

Crealogix

• Crealogix elected a new Board of Directors following the acquisition of all publicly held shares by Vencora in 2023. In consequence, co-founders Bruno Richle and Richard Dratva, and board members Jörg Zulauf, Ralph Mogicato and Ruedi Noser will leave the company in 2024. Dr. Felix Buschor, Michael Dufton, Nathan Partington, Ateet Patel, Hubert Rüedi and Christoph Stettler were proposed for election.

Energiedienst Holding

• Dr. Christoph Müller and Pierre Kunz will resign as members of the Board of Directors of Energiedienst in April 2024. They will be succeeded by Dr. Selma Lossau and Farid Safi.

Franke

• Martin Klöti, a proven financial expert with international experience in the industrial environment, strengthens the Board of Directors of Franke as of February 2024.

Georg Fischer

• Roger Michaelis will not stand for re-election as Member of the Board of Directors due to GF’s 12-year limit on Board tenure.

• Dr. Eveline Saupper has been a member of the Compensation Committee since 2015, and given her commitment, she will be elected as Chairwoman of the Committee.

Glencore

• John Nicholas Wallington will start a role as Independent Non-Executive Director at Glencore, as per June 2024.

• Peter Roland Coates will leave a role as Non-Executive Director as per May 2024.

Holcim

• Michael H. McGarry, formerly Chairman and Chief Executive of PPG Industries, a leading global specialty coatings company, will start a role as Independent Director, starting 8 May 2024.

Intershop

• Kurt Ritz did not stand for re-election at the Annual General Meeting. As his successor, the Board of Directors proposed Dr Gregor Bucher.

IVF Hartmann

• The Board of Directors has appointed current Member, Stefan Grote, to serve as Vice President until the next AGM.

• The Nomination and Compensation Committee will be supplemented by Dr. Aldo C. Schellenberg until the conclusion of the next AGM.

• Oliver Neubrand will start a role as Independent Board Member as per April 2024.

Komax

• Annette Heimlicher, CEO of the Contrinex Group since 2012, was elected as a new member of the Board. On the other hand, Kurt Haerri did not stand for re-election due to term-of-office limitations.

Kuehne+Nagel

• Anne-Catherine Berner and Dominik de Daniel will start a role as Board Member at Kuehne+Nagel, as per May 2024, while David Kamenetzky will leave a role as Board Member.

Lonza

• After seven years as Board Member and six years as Chairman of Lonza, Albert M. Baehny will step down as Chairman. He will be succeeded by Jean-Marc Huët as of May 2024. Jean-Marc was Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Heineken and former CFO of Unilever, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Royal Numico.

Medartis

• Martha Shadan and Jennifer (Jenni) Dean will start as Members of the Board of Directors in April 2024. Daniel Herren, on the other hand, will not be standing for re-election after seven years on the Board of Directors.

Mobimo

• In the interests of a good balance between continuity and renewal, the gradual replacement of the longest-serving members of the Board of Directors, Brian Fischer, is currently planned for the 2025 Annual General Meeting and Peter Schaub for the 2026 Annual General Meeting.

• After 15 years of service, Daniel Crausaz left the board and is succeeded by the CFO Dr. Markus Schürch.

Neste

• Conrad Keijzer, CEO of Clariant, will start a role as Independent Board Member at Neste as of end of March 2024.

Nestlé

• Henri de Castries will not stand for re-election to the Board of Directors. In addition, Kimberly A. Ross, who has served on the board for the last six years, decided not to stand for re-election. Meanwhile, Nestlé proposed Geraldine Matchett as new independent member of its Board of Directors.

Polypeptide

• Polypeptide announced that Director Dorothee Deuring will not be standing for re-election to the Board of Directors at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting in April. The other six members will stand for re-election, including Chairman Peter Wilden.

Richemont

• Maître Jean-Blaise Eckert and Guillaume Pictet have left their role as Independent Non- Executive Director in the end of March 2024.

RUAG

• Nicolas Perrin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of RUAG MRO, has decided to hand over his office to new hands. The handover will take place in an orderly manner, in consultation with the owner. In the meantime, Jürg Oleas has changed role from Vice President to Board Member at RUAG.

Sandoz

• The Board of Directors of Sandoz announced in February 2024 that it proposes Graeme Pitkethly for election to its Board of Directors at the company’s next Annual General Meeting in April 2024. The Board intends to appoint Pitkethly as Chair of its Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee.

• Additionally, Mathai Mammen, M.D., Ph.D., and Michael Rechsteiner are proposed for election to the Board. Meanwhile, François-Xavier Roger decided to step down as of March 2024 as Member of the Board of Directors, as he has accepted a new executive role.

SBB

• The Board of Directors of SBB will propose Clara Millard Dereudre as a new member of the Board of Directors at the Annual General Meeting on April 2024. She will replace Alexandra Post, who is not standing for re-election due to the term limit. The Federal Council approved this proposal.

Schlatter

• Schlatter announced that Chairman of the Board of Directors Paul Zumbühl will step down at the AGM in May 2025 after 12 years. However, he will continue to be available to the group as a Member of the board.

SFS

• The Board of Directors proposes that Tanja Birner, Senior Vice President Global Sales & Marketing at Siemens, be appointed as a new member. With her many years of experience in multi-divisional, international and listed industrial companies, the Board of Directors is confident she will be a valuable addition to the Board.

SIG

• Thomas J. Dittrich will start a role as Independent Board Member by end of April 2024. While Andreas Umbach, who has been Chairman of the Board of Directors since SIG's IPO on the SIX Swiss Exchange in September 2018, has decided not to stand for re-election at the Annual General Meeting in 2025.

Sika

• Except for the resigning Chair of the Board of Directors, Paul Hälg, all current members of the Board of Directors are standing for re-election. The Board of Directors proposes to elect Thierry F.J. Vanlancker as new Chair of the Board and Thomas Aebischer as a new member.

SoftwareOne

• There will be two resignations from SoftwareOne's Board of Directors before the Annual General Meeting in mid-April. Timo Ihamuotila and Isabelle Romy will not be standing for re-election.

STMicroelectronics

• Pascal Daloz was elected for a three-year term as member of the Supervisory Board, in replacement of Yann Delabrière whose mandate will expire at the end of May 2024.

Swatch Group

• Swatch Group proposes to the next Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders on 8 May 2024 the re-election of all the members of its Board of Directors and the election of Marc Hayek as a new member of the Board.

Swiss Steel

• The Board of Directors members Barend Fruithof and Oliver Streuli, both representatives of the major shareholder PCS Holding, have informed Swiss Steel of their immediate resignation from the Board of Directors in March 2024.

Swisscom

• Alain Carrupt left his role as Employee Representative (Independent) at Swisscom. He is replaced in his functions by Daniel Münger, effective in March 2024.

Tecan

• The Board of Directors of laboratory equipment manufacturer Tecan is to be expanded. Monica Manotas will be proposed as a new member of the Board of Directors at the Annual General Meeting in April 2024.

U-Blox Holding

• Thomas Seiler, who has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2007, will leave a role as Independent Board Member at U-Blox Holding. He will be replaced by Fabian Rauch, who will start a role as Board Member.

VAT

• The Board of Directors nominated Thomas A. Piliszczuk to the Board as a new member. At the same time, Maria Heriz, current VAT member since 2021, will not stand for re-election.

Contact

Dominik Brülisauer
Russell Reynolds Associates
Stampfenbachstrasse 5 | 8001 Zurich | Switzerland
Direct: +41-44-447-30-46
Mobile: +41-79-549-80-28
dominik.bruelisauer@russellreynolds.com