Akzo Nobel has given its Executive Committee (managing board) a new structure following the departure of CEO Ton Büchner, who stepped down on Jul. 19, citing health reasons. In announcing the changes, the Dutch coatings producer said the intent is to “drive operational excellence, increase customer focus and build further momentum and speed into the organization.”

In the wake of the foiled takeover bid by US coatings manufacturer PPG and the CEO’s subsequent departure, other announced moves can be seen as extending a hand to critical shareholders who backed plans by US rival PPG to take over the company.

As announced earlier, Thierry Vanlancker has been named to head Akzo’s executive committee as CEO. However, he must be formally appointed by shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting (egm) scheduled for Sept. 8, 2017.

On the Committee, Maëlys Castella will retain her position as chief financial officer, while Sven Dumoulin will continue as general counsel and Marten Booisma as chief human resources officer. Also on the top management team is Ruud Joosten as chief operating officer. Joosten, who formerly headed the Decorative Paints business, will oversee the Performance Coatings business as well as Decorative Paints.

Going forward, direct responsibility for Paints & Coatings operations – including all manufacturing, supply chain and logistics, site management, health & safety (HSE&S) and procurement – will become the responsibility of Integrated Supply Chain leader David Allen, who in the enhanced function is being elevated to the Committee.

Finally, Werner Fuhrmann has been named to head the Specialty Chemicals business and manage its separation from the company. Fuhrmann retired from AkzoNobel at the beginning of February and was succeeded by Vanlacker.

Separately, changes being made to engage with shareholders include the alignment of senior executive remuneration to the new financial plan, as demanded by activist shareholder, hedge fund Elliot Partners.

The announcement that AkzoNobel’s supervisory board chairman, Antony Burgmans, will relinquish his positions as chairman and leave the board with effect from Apr. 18, 2018, also falls into this category.

In May, Elliott, Akzo's largest shareholder, which now holds a 9.5% stake, initiated legal proceedings against the company for its refusal to call an egm to oust Burgmans. More recently, it asked it for assurance that shareholders will be given the right to add resolutions to the agenda of the meeting, at which the company plans to discuss the response to PPG’s proposals.

While Elliott lost the court case, the judges mandated that the coatings manufacturer “normalize” relations with its shareholders. As a further step in that direction, Akzo has created a supervisory board committee for shareholder relations and appointed of David Mayhew and team from JP Morgan Cazenova as advisor for this function.