The new appointment is subject to shareholder approval and will be on the agenda of an Extraordinary General Meeting scheduled to be held in September this year.

The Akzo chief-to-be has 25 years of international business experience, having served in previous roles as CEO of Swiss industrial engineering company Sulzer and General Electric's renewable energy unit GE Grid Solutions. He was also a senior managing director at private equity group CVC Capital Partners.

Nils Smedegaard Andersen, chair of AkzoNobel’s supervisory board, said: “Gregoire Poux-Guillaume is an experienced business leader with a track record of delivering above market growth and building strong teams. We’re happy and confident to have found the best match for AkzoNobel to continue our position as a frontrunner in our industry. His experience will provide a valuable perspective to help us with future growth and financial performance.” 

Andersen added that the Dutch company is grateful for Vanlancker’s leadership, under which AkzoNobel successfully split off its Specialty Chemicals business and became a “focused and competitive paints and coatings company, with strong profitability and significant returns to shareholders.”

Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist