New twist in what the French press has called the yogurt war. A little more than two weeks after the day on which the board of directors approved the principle of dissociation between the position of president and that of CEO of Danone, the board and of the company "has put an end to the functions” of the president and CEO Emmanuel Faber "with immediate effect". The councilors have therefore decided to accept the requests of Artisan Partners and Bluebell, who hold about 3% of Danone, and who have been lobbying for months, contesting the strategy of the now ex-number one of the agro-food giant
To take the place of Faber in the role of president is Gilles Schnepp, ex-owner of the French electrical equipment manufacturer Legrand. As for the position of managing director, while waiting to find a new CEO of "international standing", the board of directors chose to appoint the general manager Veronique Penchienati-Bosetta and the deputy general manager, Shane Grant, on an interim basis. Danone has also engaged an international research agency to assist the president and board in the selection process.
Faber, 57, had been CEO of Danone since 2014 and since 2017 he also held the position of executive chairman.
After the dissociation established on March 1st by the board of directors, Faber should have remained president, maintaining the position of CEO of Danone ad interim until the arrival of the new executive number one. However, Artisan Partners had asked the board of “review its position”. The English fund had in fact pressed for the board to appoint a "truly independent" president "immediately". Another fund shareholder, Bluebell Capital Partners, was soon associated with the war, which in turn believes that the management of Faber has caused Danone to lose ground compared to the competition, especially compared to the main rival Nestlé. The two funds have also requested that the strategic reorganization and cost reduction plan wanted by Faber be at least suspended. The group is currently negotiating with the unions on the plan, dubbed "Local First", which according to the outgoing management should make Danone more agile and lead to savings, also with the reduction of hierarchical levels with the elimination of 2.000 positions.
The turnaround at the top of the company had immediate (positive) repercussions on the stock and mid-afternoon, on the Paris Stock Exchange, Danone shares they earn 3% at €59,90.
