Danone's Faber to step down as CEO amid shareholder shakeup

Danone's CEO Emmanuel Faber has stepped down amid a shareholder shakeup last month after company investors looked to split the chairman and CEO roles and counteract some of his policies.

Faber, who has been at the head of the company for seven years, has faced increasing pressure owing to his reshuffle of the company and in the face of generally poor sales during the coronavirus.

Read more: Danone shareholder demands removal of CEO amid shakeup

At a shareholder meeting on Monday, the French foods group did everything promised short of removing Faber from his role of CEO, instead offering him the role as chairman while it searched for a new CEO.

Faber will take his place as non-executive chairman upon the appointment of his executive successor, a suggestion which supposedly came from the CEO himself.

The board also chose to support Faber's turnaround plan, which includes job cuts and asset sales in order to recuperate some of the losses caused by the virus.

The losses were largely attributed to the types of food products they sell, which are largely consumed when out-and-about.

The company's bottled water brand lost €1 billion in revenue alone during the pandemic.

Its dairy products and baby formula have also suffered losses.

Danone's homeware range saw a boom during the pandemic, becoming its only sector turning a profit.

It is currently unknown whether or not some of the more to silence some of its more vocal shareholders, such as Artisan Partners, who are the food company's third-largest shareholder.

Artisan were vocal proponents of Faber's departure as well as being opposed to, and supporting the revocation of, the plans he orchestrated as CEO.

The shareholder told the FT: “We note the latest developments and will respond in due course.”

Faber was reportedly pleased with the decision.

In a statement made after the meeting, he said: "This will allow us to anticipate the next phase of development of the truly unique company Danone is, as we open, with out 'local first' plan, a new step towards company reinvention."

The company also announced several new changes to "continue strengthening Danone's governance."

Gilles Schlepp has been appointed vice-chairman alongside Cécille Cabanis, the company's former finance chief.

Michel Severino, a board member since 2011, is set to become the lead independent director and head the governance committee.

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Danone's 2020 financial reports showed the company's sales were down 6.6% year-on-year to €23.62 billion.

Faber helped oversee the company's transition into high-growth areas such as plant-based products.

This could partially help explain why shareholders decided to stick with a number of his policies.

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