FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Coca-Cola HBC AG
Announces Changes to the Board of Directors and Confirms Dividend Dates
Zug, Switzerland – 28 May 2014 – Coca-Cola HBC AG (“Coca-Cola HBC” or the “Company”) today announces that Anastasios P. Leventis, Haralambos K. Leventis, John Hunter and Stefan Heidenreich have informed the Company of their intention to retire from the board of directors of Coca-Cola HBC (the “Board of Directors”) at the time of the Company’s annual general meeting (“AGM”) on 25 June 2014.
Following such retirements, upon the recommendation of Coca-Cola HBC's Nomination Committee, the Board of Directors of Coca-Cola HBC has proposed each of Anastasios I. Leventis, Christo Leventis, José Octavio Reyes and John P. Sechi for election at the AGM as a non-executive director of the Board of Directors, with effect from the same date.
George A. David, Chairman of Coca-Cola HBC, made the following remarks:
“On behalf of the Board, I would like to take this opportunity to offer our sincere thanks to Anastasios and Haralambos for the significant contributions they have made to the company over many years. Their seats are proposed to be taken by Anastasios and Christo Leventis, who will bring new perspectives to the Board.
“I would also like to offer my gratitude to John for his excellent contribution over the past four years, and my thanks to Stefan who unfortunately retires from the Board after one year due to an unexpected change to his location and availability, making it challenging for him to fulfil his obligations. We wish them both well for the future.
“Finally, I look forward to working with José and John whose knowledge and international experience of both the Coca-Cola System and the consumer goods industry will be a strategic asset for the Board and the CCHBC group.”
Stefan Heidenreich has served on the Company’s Audit Committee and John Hunter has served on the Company’s Nomination Committee. The Board of Directors will therefore consider replacements for these roles at its meeting scheduled for 27 June 2014, and the Company will make an announcement in relation to the appointments for these roles following this meeting.
Brief biographies for each of the proposed new non-executive directors are set out below.
Dividend dates
The Board of Directors has proposed to declare a gross dividend of Euro 0.354 on each ordinary registered share with a par value of CHF 6.70 out of the general capital contribution reserve. Subject to approval of the dividend by the Company’s shareholders at the Annual General Meeting on 25 June 2014, the Board of Directors currently anticipates that the dividend will be paid on 29 July 2014 to holders of ordinary shares on the record date of 11 July 2014. The shares are expected to be traded ex-dividend as of 9 July 2014, in which case the last day on which the shares may be traded with the entitlement to receive dividends will be 8 July 2014.
Brief biographies for the proposed new non-executive directors
Anastasios I. Leventis
Mr. A. Leventis serves as a director of the Leventis Group, a diversified international business group, and as a trustee of the Leventis Foundation. In addition, Mr. A. Leventis is a director of Alpheus Group Limited, a private asset management company managing assets of private clients and charitable foundations. Mr. A. Leventis is vice president of the Council of the University of Cyprus, a member of the board of overseers of the Gennadius Library in Athens and a member the board of the WWF in Greece. Mr. A. Leventis holds a B.A. in Classics from the University of Exeter and an MBA from New York University’s Leonard Stern School of Business.
Christo Leventis
Mr. Christo Leventis worked as an Investment Analyst with Credit Suisse Asset Management from 1994 to 1999. In 2001, he joined J.P. Morgan Securities as an Equity Research Analyst focusing on European beverage companies. In 2003, Mr. C. Leventis started the private equity investment arm of Alpheus, a private asset management company, and also serves as a member of its investment advisory committee. From 2003 until March 2014 Mr. C. Leventis was a member of the board of directors of Frigoglass S.A.I.C., a leading global manufacturer of commercial refrigeration products for the beverage industry. Mr. C. Leventis holds a B.A. in Classics from University College London and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management in Chicago.
José Octavio Reyes
Mr. José Octavio Reyes is the former Vice Chairman of The Coca-Cola Export Corporation, a position in which he served from January 2013 until his retirement in March 2014. He was president, Latin America Group at The Coca-Cola Company from December 2002 to December 2012. Mr. Reyes began his career with The Coca-Cola Company in 1980 at Coca-Cola de México as Manager of Strategic Planning. In 1987, he was appointed Manager of the Sprite and Diet Coke brands at Corporate Headquarters in Atlanta. In 1990, he was appointed Marketing Director for Brazil, and later became Marketing and Operations Vice President for Coca-Cola de Mexico. Mr. Reyes became President for Coca-Cola de Mexico in 1996. In September 2002, Mr. Reyes was named President of the North Latin America Division at Coca-Cola, comprising Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Central America and the Caribbean. Prior to joining Coca-Cola, Mr. Reyes spent five years with Grupo IRSA, a Monsanto Company joint venture. Mr. Reyes has been a member of the board of directors of Comex Paints since 2006; member of the board of directors of MasterCard WorldWide since January 2008, and is a member of the board of directors of Papalote Children's Museum in Mexico City. Mr. Reyes holds a BS in chemical engineering from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and a MBA from the Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey.
John P. Sechi
Mr. Sechi started his career as a financial analyst and audit manager. In 1985, he joined The Coca-Cola Company as an internal auditor. In 1987, Mr. Sechi became the Finance Director for Coca-Cola Great Britain Limited based in London. The following year, he was appointed General Manager of the European Supply Point Group and in 1990 he moved to Madrid to join the Iberian Division as Chief Financial Officer. In 1993, Mr. Sechi was promoted to President of the Central Mediterranean Division of The Coca-Cola Company, based in Milan, where he was responsible for operations in Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Bulgaria, Former Yugoslavia (Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Kosovo and FYROM), Albania and Italy. In 1998, he was promoted to President of the German Division, based in Dusseldorf. Mr. Sechi was Chairman of Globalpraxis, a commercial consulting firm, from 2001 to 2008. From 2007 until 2013, he was the President, Greater Europe of The Campbell Soup Company, and from 2006 to 2011, a non-executive Board member and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Coca-Cola Içecek. Mr. Sechi has a BA in Business Management from Ryerson University in Toronto and is a Chartered Accountant (Canada).
