Anheuser-Busch InBev NV said on Wednesday shareholders approved
Olivier Goudet as chairman, bringing an end to the leadership of
Kees Storm whose term on the board expired.
Mr. Goudet, an independent board member, will serve as chairman
for four years. He is the current chief executive of JAB Holding
Company, LLC, which has a majority stake in Coty, Inc., Peet's
Coffee & Tea and Einstein Noah Restaurant Group. A French
citizen, he previously served as the chief financial officer of
Mars, Inc. and played a role in the company's $23 billion
acquisition of Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. in 2008.
Proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services Inc.
recommended shareholders vote for Mr. Goudet's re-election as a
board member and chairman because he was an independent nominee who
would only be elected for four years.
In addition to approving Mr. Goudet's chairmanship, shareholders
approved Michele Burns and Kasper Rorsted as new independent
directors. They replaced Mr. Storm and outgoing board member Mark
Winkelman.
Ms. Burns previously served as chairman and chief executive of
Mercer LLC, a global consulting firm. She succeeds Mr. Goudet as
chair of the audit committee.
Mr. Rorsted is chief executive of Henkel Corp., the consumer
goods company that owns brands like Right Guard, Soft Scrub and
Dial. He previously worked at Oracle Corp. and Hewlett-Packard
Co.
Shareholders also voted in favor of extending the terms of Paul
Cornet and Stefan Descheemaeker.
ISS recommended shareholders vote against Messrs. Cornet and
Descheemaeker because it said the level of board independence at
the company would only be 29%, a level short of the Belgian code on
corporate governance that says at least half the board should be
nonexecutive directors and three should be independent.
In its meeting materials, AB InBev said its 14-person board has
four independent directors and eight directors representing the
Brazilian and Belgian families who control the company. It said
that directors Valentin Diez and Mariasun Aramburuzabala, who
became board members after AB InBev acquired Grupo Modelo SAB B,
may not qualify as independent but they don't represent the
company's controlling shareholders.
AB InBev shareholders approved a total dividend for 2014 of EUR3
per share. The company paid EUR1 in November and will pay the
remaining EUR2 after May 6.
Write to Tripp Mickle at Tripp.Mickle@wsj.com
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