ZALTBOMMEL, The Netherlands, December 19 /PRNewswire/ -- J.J.G.M. (Justinus) Sanders is to stand down as CEO of Campina after more
than 15 years with the dairy cooperative, roughly half of which he has spent
as head of the company. Mr Sanders' decision is linked to today's
announcement that Campina and Friesland Foods intend to merge in 2008. The
merger will mark the start of a new era for the company, and it was therefore
decided by those concerned that it would be wiser if Mr Sanders, who has set
his stamp on Campina for the past 15 years, did not move to the new concern.
Mr Sanders has therefore decided, in consultation with the Supervisory Board,
to leave Campina now to give the merger the best chances of success.
Supervisory Board Chairman C.H. (Kees) Wantenaar said he is very sorry
that Mr Sanders is leaving the company. 'The Supervisory Board regrets the
fact that it was not possible for Mr Sanders to continue in his role as CEO
in the new company. However, the merger marks the start of a new era and Mr
Sanders is more closely involved than anyone with Campina, a company he so
emphatically put on the map.'
'The Board is grateful to Mr Sanders for the way he has devoted his
expertise and business skills to Campina over the years. Campina can now
justifiably call itself one of Europe's leading dairy companies, known for
its innovative strengths and solid performance, which has become a household
name in dairy. Mr Sanders has made a very important contribution to these
achievements.'
Campina will continue to benefit from Mr Sanders' expertise until the
merger has been fully formalised, since he will remain an advisor to the
Supervisory Board and carry out special projects for the cooperative and/or
its group companies. Mr Sanders will officially stand down as CEO as at 31
December 2007. Mr Sanders: 'I fully support the proposed merger between
Campina and Friesland Foods and I am proud that Campina is ready to take this
next step as an equal partner.'
C.J.M. (Kees) Gielen RA, who is currently CFO of Campina, will take over
from Mr Sanders as acting CEO on 31 December. He will combine this role with
his existing responsibilities as CFO.
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Note to editors:
About Campina
The international co-operative dairy company Campina consists of 8,000
dairy farmers who jointly own Campina.
They take care for their cows and the landscape every day as well as
producing the highest quality milk. This milk, full of natural ingredients
for the human body, forms the basis for the milk, dairy drinks, yoghurts,
desserts, cheese and butter that consumers recognize from the Campina,
Landliebe and Mona brands. In addition, Campina is known worldwide
as a leading supplier of ingredients used in a variety of food and
pharmaceutical products. With their passion for dairy, Campina's 6,300
employees realize turnover of more than EUR3.6 billion (2006).
Website: http://www.campina.com
Campina
