Glanbia plc Board changes

RNS Number : 5377Q

Glanbia PLC

20 February 2019

 

Glanbia plc Board changes

20^th February 2019 - Glanbia plc ("Glanbia", the "Company", the "plc"), the global nutrition group, announces the following proposed changes to its Board of Directors in 2019.

Glanbia is today announcing that Mary Minnick and Richard Laube will join the Board as Independent Non-Executive Directors on 1 May 2019.

Mary Minnick (59) was previously a partner of Lion Capital LLP, a consumer-focused private equity firm, from  2007 to 2018. In that role, Ms Minnick was involved in a number of successful investments in well-known retail and consumer branded companies, several of which she chaired. Prior to that, Ms. Minnick had a 23-year career with The Coca-Cola Company, where she held a variety of senior management positions, including Chief Operating Officer of the Asian region, Division President roles in the Japan, South Pacific and Asian regions, and ultimately as the company's Chief Marketing Officer and Global President of Strategy and Innovation. She is an experienced Board Director and is currently a member of the Boards of Target Corporation and Leo Holdings Corp, both of which are publicly-traded in the US.  Previously she was a member of the Boards of Heineken NV and Whitewave Foods, also US publicly traded.  Ms Minnick holds an MBA from Duke University in the US and a BS in Business Administration from Bowling Green State University in the US.

Richard Laube (62) was CEO of Nobel Biocare, a Swiss listed medical device business, from April 2011 to April 2016.  Prior to that Mr. Laube served as Executive Board Member of Nestlé SA, from April 2005 to September 2010, and served operationally as CEO of Nestlé Nutrition. Before Nestlé, Mr. Laube served as Executive Committee member of Roche Holding AG and was operationally responsible for Roche Consumer Health. Earlier in his career he held positions of increasing responsibility in brand and general management at Procter & Gamble, including international assignments in Switzerland, the USA, Japan, Germany and Brazil. Mr. Laube is an experienced company director, having served as Chairman of Atkins Nutritionals Inc. from January 2011 to July 2017 and remained as independent director of the Simply Good Foods Company upon the company's successful initial public offering on NASDAQ in July 2017.  He currently serves as a Director of Gnubiotics Sciences and Piqur Therapeutics SA. He has previously served as independent board member of Logitech SA. Mr Laube holds an MA and BA in Psychology from Boston University, US.

The Company today also announces plans to reorganise the composition of its Board of Directors effective 1 May 2019. The reorganised Board will be comprised of 16 members, as follows:

·     Two Executive Directors; Group Managing Director and Group Finance Director;

·     Six Independent Non-Executive Directors; and

·     Eight Non-Executive Directors nominated by Glanbia Co-operative Society Limited (the "Society"). This is in accordance with the amended and restated relationship agreement dated 2 July 2017 (the "Relationship Agreement") between the Company and the Society.

To facilitate this reorganisation and the broadening of the external perspective of the Board, Hugh McGuire and Brian Phelan will not be putting themselves forward for re-election at the 2019 Annual General Meeting (AGM).  Their key executive roles are unaltered and they will continue in their executive leadership positions as CEOs of the Group's two global growth platforms, Glanbia Performance Nutrition and Glanbia Nutritionals respectively.

Paul Haran, Senior Independent Director, will retire immediately upon completion of the appointment of a third new Independent Non-Executive Director which is expected to be completed during 2019.  The Company will announce the appointment of the Independent Board Director to replace Mr Haran and changes to the composition of the Committees (which will continue to comprise only of Independent Non-Executive Directors) in due course.

Following Mr Haran's retirement, Dan O'Connor will take up the position of Senior Independent Director.  The role of Donard Gaynor, an Independent Non-Executive Director, has been expanded to include oversight of workforce engagement to further improve Board involvement in this area.

As previously disclosed, in accordance with the Relationship Agreement between the Company and the Society, in 2020 the number of directors nominated by the Society will reduce from eight to seven and in 2022 the number of directors nominated by the Society will reduce to six. It is the intention that the Society will continue to nominate a Society nominee as Chairman of the Board until no later than 30 June 2020.

Richard Laube and Mary Minnick have notified Glanbia plc, save as disclosed herein, that they do not have any details to be disclosed as required under Paragraph 6.6.7, Chapter 6 of the Euronext Dublin Listing Rules and Paragraph 9.6.13, Chapter 9 of the UK Listing Rules.  Ms. Minnick was appointed as a non-executive director of La Senza Limited, a UK incorporated company, on 9 November 2007.  In addition, she was a partner of Lion Capital LLP which had an equity interest in La Senza Limited.  La Senza Limited was placed into receivership in 2012.

ENDS

Investor contact:

Liam Hennigan, Group Director of Strategic Planning & Investor Relations:          [phone]

Media contact:

Martha Kavanagh, Head of Corporate Communications:                                          [phone]

 

END

 

 

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