Holcim and Lafarge are taking another step toward completion of their merger with the announcement of its future Executive Committee.
The future CEO, Bruno Lafont, current chairman and CEO of Lafarge, will head up a project team of 10 experienced and seasoned managers who will lead the transition – 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, current chairman of Holcim’s board of directors.
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, Reitzle and Lafont, said: “We are fully on track, and after a rigorous process, we have now identified the team that will lead the combined company into the future. We would like to use this opportunity to thank all our teams for their excellent work to build this new and exciting global company. 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 project team under the chairmanship of Lafont, is composed of:
- Finance: Thomas Aebischer, currently in same role at Holcim.
- Integration, Organization & Human Resources: Jean-Jacques Gauthier, currently in charge of finance at Lafarge.
- Europe: Roland Köhler, currently in same role at Holcim.
- Asia Pacific: Ian Thackwray, currently in charge of East Asia Pacific and trading at Holcim.
- Middle-East 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: Saad 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.
In India both companies are well on track in preparing the merger of Holcim and Lafarge, with the future structure for this subcontinent to be announced in due course upon clearance by the Competition Commission of India.
The current Executive Committees of Holcim and Lafarge remain in charge and accountable for the activity and operations of their respective groups until completion of the merger. Both groups continue to operate entirely separately as competitors until the merger is completed.
The selection and nomination process for the rest of the leadership team is also well underway. Apart from the future Executive Committee, the following direct reports of the future CEO have been selected under 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 the same role at Lafarge.
- Legal: Xavier Dedullen, currently in charge of legal and compliance at Holcim.
- Health and Safety: Sapna Sood, currently in the same role at Lafarge.
Further top manager nominations will be announced in due time, noted Holcim and Lafarge in a released statement.
