New chairman to take helm at Ahold Delhaize

Jan Hommen is set to become chairman of the supervisory board at Ahold Delhaize on Wednesday with the retirement of Mats Jansson.

Ahold Delhaize said Jansson will retire from the board on April 11 after the company’s annual general meeting, at which time Hommen will take the reins as chairman.

The announcement follows last week’s news that Dick Boer is retiring as chief executive officer of Ahold Delhaize and will be succeeded by deputy CEO and chief integration officer Frans Muller as of July 1.

Hommen (left) has served as vice chairman since Royal Ahold and Delhaize Group completed their merger in July 2016. Before that, he had been chairman of Ahold's supervisory board since 2013. Between 2003 and 2007, he was vice chairman of Ahold’s supervisory board and chairman of its audit committee. Hommen’s executive experience also includes roles as vice chairman of the board of management at Royal Philips Electronics and chief executive officer of ING Group and of KPMG the Netherlands.

"The leadership of Mats has been instrumental in successfully bringing Ahold and Delhaize Group together and delivering on our promises to our stakeholders,” Hommen said in a statement. “As a supervisory board, we are grateful for his commitment and strong support to the leadership team in delivering a successful integration. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the board and with the new CEO Frans Muller and his team.”

Jansson (left) has been chairman of the Ahold Delhaize supervisory board since July 2016 and serves as a member of its governance and nomination committee. Prior to the merger, he served as chairman of Delhaize since 2012.

"I leave Ahold Delhaize knowing that the company is well-positioned for the future. I thank my colleagues in the supervisory board and especially Jan Hommen, with whom I have had the privilege of working closely, both before and after completing the merger of two leading food retail companies,” Jansson said. “It makes me proud to see what the teams at Ahold Delhaize have accomplished in two years, with the integration fully on track."

Taking over from Hommen as vice chairman will be Bill McEwan, who has been on the supervisory board since July 2016 and serves as chairman of the remuneration committee and as a member of the sustainability and innovation committee. A former president and CEO of Sobeys Inc., McEwan had served on Delhaize’s board from 2011 leading up to the merger with Ahold.

Ahold Delhaize also announced that Johnny Thijs and Patrick De Maeseneire plan to step down from the supervisory board because of other commitments.