Lafarge Holcim executive committee announced

Firms select future executive committee to head proposed combined company after closing

LAFARGE and Holcim have taken another step towards completion of their ongoing merger project with the announcement of the combined company’s future executive committee.

Future chief executive officer Bruno Lafont will head up a project team of 10 experienced managers who will lead the transition – together with all the teams already engaged in the integration planning – until the completion of the merger.

Once the merger is finalized, the members of this project team will be officially appointed members of the executive committee of the proposed combined company by the future board, which will be chaired by Wolfgang Reitzle.

Until then, the role of the project team will be limited to integration planning which will be implemented after closing.

Commenting on the major progress made since the announcement of the merger project in April 2014, Wolfgang Reitzle (pictured), chairman of the board of directors of Holcim and future chairman of the combined company, and Bruno Lafont, chairman and chief executive officer of Lafarge and future CEO of the combined company, said: ‘We are fully on track and, after a rigorous process, have now identified the team that will lead the combined company into the future. As of now, the future executive committee will play a key role in the integration planning of our two groups.’

The future executive committee, as the project team under the chairmanship of Bruno Lafont, comprises:

• Finance: Thomas Aebischer, currently in charge of finance at Holcim;
• Integration, organization and human resources: Jean-Jacques Gauthier, currently in charge of finance at Lafarge;
• Europe: Roland Köhler, currently in charge of Europe at Holcim;
• Asia Pacific: Ian Thackwray, currently in charge of East Asia Pacific and trading at Holcim;
• Middle-East and Africa: Eric Olsen, currently in charge of operations at Lafarge;
• North America: Alain Bourguignon, previously in charge of North America and UK at Holcim;
• Latin America: Saâd Sebbar, currently in charge of Morocco at Lafarge;
• Performance and cost: Urs Bleisch, currently in charge of corporate functions at Holcim;
• Growth and innovation: Gérard Kuperfarb, currently in charge of innovation at Lafarge.  

The future structure for the Indian subcontinent will be announced in due course upon clearance of the merger by the Competition Commission of India.

The current executive committees of Holcim and Lafarge will remain in charge of the activities and operations of their respective groups until completion of the merger, and both groups will continue to operate entirely separately as competitors until this time.

The selection and nomination process for the rest of the leadership team is also said to be well under way. Apart from the future executive committee, the following direct reports of the future CEO have been selected under the project mode:

• Strategy and M&A: Christof Haessig, currently in charge of corporate finance and treasury at Holcim;
• Communication, public affairs and sustainable development: Alexandra Rocca, currently in charge of communication, public affairs and sustainable development at Lafarge;
• Legal: Xavier Dedullen, currently in charge of legal and compliance at Holcim;
• Health and safety: Sapna Sood, currently in charge of health and safety at Lafarge.  

 Further top managers nominations will be announced in due course.