Veteran Dutch turnaround expert Tex Gunning was yesterday confirmed by TNT Express shareholders asthe company’s new CEO from June onwards.
The 62-year-old, whose appointment was announced in February, was officially appointed atthe Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM) as an additional member of the Executive Board ofTNT Express in the position of CEO, with effect from 1 June 2013. Interim CEO Bernhard Bot, whotook over after the resignation of Marie-Christine Lombard last September, will return to hisposition as Chief Financial Officer.
Gunning, who was on the company’s supervisory board from May 2011 until February 2013, willleave his current job on the management board of Dutch company AkzoNobel, the world’s largestpaints and coatings firm, on April 26, 2013.
The new CEO will be responsible for implementing TNT’s new ‘standalone’ strategy, entitled ‘Deliver!’, under which the company will focus mostly on its core Europe business, dispose of theloss-making China and Brazil businesses, and reduce costs in order to improve profits.
The AGM also appointed Sjoerd Vollebregt as an additional independent member of theSupervisory Board for a period of four years ending at the end of the AGM in 2017. However, theSupervisory Board may request him to resign if PostNL reduces its shareholding in TNT Express to 15per cent or less. Margot Scheltema and Shemaya Levy were re-appointed as Supervisory Board membersfor four more years.
In other votes, the AGM extended the designation of the Executive Board as the authorisedbody to issue ordinary shares until 10 October 2014. This authority shall be limited to a maximumof 10 per cent of the issued capital plus a further 10 per cent of the issued capital in case anissue takes place in relation to a merger or an acquisition. The Executive Board is also entitledto order a share buyback of 10 per cent maximum of issued share capital.
