THE NETHERLANDS— Royal Philips, a global pioneer in health technology, has proposed that Chairman Feike Sijbesma and Peter Löscher be reappointed as members of the Supervisory Board, and Benoît Ribadeau-Dumas be appointed as a new member of the Supervisory Board.
This proposal is expected to be made at the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM) on May 7, 2024.
This proposal follows the August 14, 2023, announcement in which Philips and Exor N.V. signed into a cooperation agreement in which Exor purchased a 15% stake in the company to assist Philips’ objective to build value with long-term impact.
The partnership agreement contained Exor’s pledge to be a long-term shareholder as well as the right to recommend one member to the Supervisory Board, which led to the proposal to appoint Mr. Ribadeau-Dumas as a Supervisory Board member.
Mr. Sijbesma has been on the Supervisory Board since 2020, and he has been its Chairman since May 2021.
He also chairs the Corporate Governance and Nomination & Selection Committees, as well as serving on the Remuneration Committee.
Before joining Royal Phillips, he was CEO of Koninklijke DSM NV (Honorary Chairman) and a former non-executive director of Unilever NV.
He has also served as Co-Chair of the Global Climate Adaptation Center and Member of the World Economic Forum’s Board of Trustees.
Mr. Löscher, on the other hand, has been a Supervisory Board member since 2020, as well as a member of the Audit and Quality & Regulatory Committees for the past four years.
He is also a member of the Boards of Directors of Telefónica S.A. and CaixaBank S.A., as well as the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Telefónica Deutschland Holding AG, Thyssen-Bornemisza Group AG, and Doha Venture Capital LLC.
He previously held positions such as President and CEO of Siemens AG, President of Global Human Health and Member of the Executive Board of Merck & Co., President and CEO of GE Healthcare Bio-Sciences and member of GE’s Corporate Executive Council, and CEO and Delegate of the Board of Directors of Renova Management AG.
Mr Ribadeau-Dumas has been Managing Director at Exor since 2022, where he oversees the company’s healthcare activities and investments, drawing on his extensive experience with large and global industrial companies, as well as managing high-technology businesses in aerospace, defense, and energy.
He is currently on the board of directors of Institut Merieux, Stellantis, and Welltec.
While welcoming this announcement, Mr. Sijbesma highlighted that he considers it a privilege to serve a second term and lead the Board’s supervisory function of Philips. He is also delighted that Peter will remain available to serve the Board as well.
He went on to express his desire to help Philips’ efforts to achieve its mission of improving people’s health and well-being via meaningful innovation and the creation of value with enduring impact.
He also stated that he is looking forward to having Mr. Ribadeau-Dumas join Philips’ Supervisory Board, citing his status as a recognized business leader.
Sijbesma concluded by stating that Benoît’s extensive track record in multiple high-tech industries, as well as his current focus within Exor on healthcare, will add value to the Supervisory Board and further support Philips’ value creation strategy and mission of improving people’s health and well-being.
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