19th Jul 2007 07:00
Diageo PLC19 July 2007 19 July 2007 Lord Blyth of Rowington to retire as Chairman of Diageo to be succeeded by Dr Franz Humer from 1 July 2008 The Board of Diageo plc has today announced the appointment of Dr Franz Humer asthe next Chairman of Diageo plc. Dr Humer will take up his appointment as thenew Chairman from 1 July 2008 after retiring from his current role as ChiefExecutive of F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd in March of the same year. Lord (James)Blyth of Rowington will remain Chairman of Diageo for a further year until Dr.Humer takes up his appointment. Lord Blyth commented: 'The Board is delighted that Franz Humer will assume the role of Chairman nextyear. Franz has a first class track record with considerable experience ofinternational business in both mature and developing markets. He has been anon-executive director of Diageo for two years and during this time he hasdemonstrated to the whole board the qualities that will allow him to be a verysuccessful Chairman of Diageo.' Dr Humer said: 'I am delighted and honoured that my Board colleagues have offered me thisappointment. Over the last two years I have come to know and admire Diageo'speople and performance. I look forward to taking up broader responsibilities inthe company.' Paul Walsh, Chief Executive, Diageo plc said: 'I would like to thank James Blyth for his commitment to Diageo over the lasteight years. During that time we have made considerable progress in buildingDiageo's position as the world's leading premium drinks business and I thankJames for the significant contribution he has made to that. 'I look forward to working with Franz Humer. We have a shared view in Diageo'sability to develop as a truly sustainable global business through the deliveryof continued commercial success; enhancing our financial strength and makingfurther progress against our social and environmental policy commitments.' -Ends- Diageo media enquiries to: Isabelle Thomas +44 (0) 20 7927 5967 [email protected] Diageo investor relations enquiries to: Darren Jones +44 (0) 20 7927 4223 [email protected] Roche media enquiries to: Roche Group Media Office +41 61 688 88 88 [email protected] Notes to Editor 1. Lord Blyth first joined the Diageo Board as a non-executive director on 1January 1999 and became Chairman on 1 July 2000. His tenure as Chairman wasextended on 3 September 2003 from five years to seven years. 2. Franz B. Humer, a Swiss and Austrian by nationality, holds a doctorate in lawand an MBA at Insead. He spent over 30 years of his professional career inexecutive positions in the pharmaceuticals industry. Humer is Chairman of theBoard of Directors and CEO of Swiss based healthcare Group Roche. Today, Rocheannounced that Humer will retire as CEO in March 2008 and remain Chairman.Before joining Roche in 1995, he was Chief Operating Officer at Glaxo. Humerbecame a Non-executive Board member of Diageo plc in 2005. He is also a memberof the Supervisory Board of Allianz AG and of the JPMorgan InternationalCouncil. A full biography follows. 3. Diageo's other non-executive directors are: Lord Hollick (Senior IndependentDirector and chairman of the Remuneration Committee), Maria Lilja, WilliamShanahan, Jonathan Symonds (chairman of the Audit Committee), Todd Stitzer andPaul Walker. Executive members of the board are Paul Walsh (CEO), Nick Rose(CFO). 4. Diageo is the world's leading premium drinks business. With its globalvision, and local marketing focus, Diageo brings to consumers an outstandingcollection of beverage alcohol brands across the spirits, wine and beercategories including Smirnoff, Guinness, Johnnie Walker, Baileys, J&B, Cuervo,Captain Morgan and Tanqueray, and Beaulieu Vineyard and Sterling Vineyardswines. Diageo trades in some 180 countries around the world and is listed onboth the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (DGE).For more information about Diageo, its people, brands and performance, visit usat www.diageo.com 5. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world's leadingresearch-focused healthcare groups in the fields of pharmaceuticals anddiagnostics. As the world's biggest biotech company and an innovator of productsand services for the early detection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment ofdiseases, the Group contributes on a broad range of fronts to improving people'shealth and quality of life. Roche is the world leader in in-vitro diagnosticsand drugs for cancer and transplantation, a market leader in virology and activein other major therapeutic areas such as autoimmune diseases, inflammation,metabolism and central nervous system. In 2006 sales by the PharmaceuticalsDivision totaled CHF 33.3 billion, and the Diagnostics Division posted sales ofCHF 8.7 billion. Roche employs roughly 75,000 people worldwide and has R&Dagreements and strategic alliances with numerous partners, including majorityownership interests in Genentech and Chugai. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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