Two new members will be proposed for election to LafargeHolcim’s board of directors at its Annual General Meeting of shareholders, which is scheduled to take place on May 12.
The board will request shareholders to approve the appointment of Dr. Philippe Block and Kim Fausing as new members, adding perspectives from academia and building industry to an already expert, diverse board.
Except for Paul Desmarais, Jr., all other existing members of the board would stand for re-election, with Beat Hess remaining as chairman.
Hess said, “On behalf of the entire board of directors, I would like to thank Paul Desmarais, Jr., for his generous contributions over the past years. He will be missed. At the same time, I am glad we can propose these two outstanding candidates. I’m confident they would strengthen our board’s expertise by adding vast experience with multinational corporations as well as the perspective of a renowned academic who has focused on creating sustainable solutions.”
Dr. Block is professor of architecture and structure at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland. He is the founder and co-director of the Block Research Group at ETH where his research focuses on the analysis of unreinforced masonry structures, structural design, computational form finding, and new construction techniques. He is also the director of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research for digital fabrication. Since 2014 he has served on the academic committee of the LafargeHolcim Foundation for sustainable construction.
Fausing began his professional career with the Hilti Group in 1990. He went on to run its operations then took over country operations in Austria and Japan before becoming division president at its headquarters in Liechtenstein. In 2007, Fausing moved to the Danish Danfoss Group to assume the role of chief operating officer. In January 2008, he became a member of its executive committee, which he has chaired since July 2017 as president and CEO.
In addition to the votes on election and re-election of the board of directors, shareholders will also be asked to vote on compensation and to consider a dividend proposal of CHF 2.00 per registered share of LafargeHolcim Ltd, to be paid from foreign capital contribution reserves and not subject to Swiss withholding tax.
Due to the exceptional circumstances of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, the personal attendance of shareholders on site will not be possible. The board of directors has resolved that shareholders shall be represented at the Annual General Meeting exclusively by independent proxy.
