Isabelle Kocher to Head Engie
January 14 2016 - 8:00AM
Dow Jones News
PARIS—Isabelle Kocher, Engie SA's deputy chief executive, will
take the top job at the company, formerly known as GDF Suez, in
May. She will replace the longtime CEO GĂ© rard Mestrallet who is
due to retire.
"Isabelle will become the boss of this group in May," Mr.
Mestrallet said Thursday during a meeting with reporters to discuss
the company's plans this year. She will become the first woman to
lead a company in the Paris CAC-40 benchmark stock index, he
added.
Ms. Kocher was appointed deputy CEO late 2014 as part of a
succession plan for Mr. Mestrallet, who has led the company for two
decades. She had been Engie's chief financial officer for three
years before becoming deputy CEO.
The changing of the guard comes at a difficult time for the
company, which faces plummeting energy prices and weak demand for
energy in the European Union.
During the same news conference, Ms. Kocher said the company
plans to speed up asset sales to adapt the company to new market
conditions. She said the company wants to boost its exposure to
renewable energy sources and depend less on thermal energy and
mature markets in Europe.
Mr. Mestrallet has led GDF Suez since the 2008 merger between
the state-owned utility and Suez, which he had led since 1995. He
said the company's board will evaluate whether to give him another
role in the company after May.
Write to Inti Landauro at inti.landauro@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 14, 2016 07:45 ET (12:45 GMT)
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