Heineken N.V. announces CFO succession

HEINEKEN today announced that after a successful tenure as Chief Financial Officer and member of the Executive Board, Laurence Debroux and the Supervisory Board have jointly agreed that she will step down after the company’s Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM) on 22 April 2021. The Supervisory Board will nominate Harold van den Broek, currently President Hygiene at RB (Reckitt Benckiser), to be appointed as member of the Executive Board and Chief Financial Officer at the company’s AGM, for a period of four years.

Harold van den Broek has been with RB since 2014 where he was CFO Hygiene before assuming his current role. Harold spent over 30 years in fast moving consumer goods companies in a broad range of finance roles across business units, regions and global functions. He began his career at Unilever in 1991, living and working in Europe, across Asia and in Russia. Subject to shareholder appointment, he will join HEINEKEN on 1 June 2021 and both Laurence and Harold will work together to ensure a smooth transition.

Dolf van den Brink, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of HEINEKEN commented: “I would like to thank Laurence for her many contributions to HEINEKEN, both as CFO and as fellow Executive Board member. Over the past six years, she has strongly contributed to HEINEKEN’s success. Most recently, she played a key role in steering the company through the COVID-19 crisis and shaping EverGreen, our strategic direction for the company, exploring how to accelerate and expand our sources of growth while simplifying and right sizing our cost base. Laurence leaves HEINEKEN in a strong financial position and with the finance teams in great shape, thanks to her continuous drive to develop and nurture great talent. We wish her every success in the future.

I am very happy to welcome Harold to HEINEKEN and am confident that he will be an outstanding finance and business leader for the company. Harold brings deep financial expertise and strong business acumen as the current president of a multi-billion pound business. He has led large scale business transformations, has decades of consumer goods experience and brings fresh external perspective – all of which will be an asset as we embark on our EverGreen journey, enter our next phase of growth and build on the great platform established by Laurence.”

Laurence Debroux said: “It has been a great privilege and honour to serve as Executive Board Member and CFO of HEINEKEN for the past 6 years. I have deeply appreciated working with so many great colleagues from all around the world and I am proud of the strength of the finance organisation. I have very much enjoyed working with Dolf and my colleagues in the Executive Team. Over the last year, we have been shaping together the strategic direction for the company to emerge stronger from the COVID-19 crisis. I leave with full confidence that under Dolf’s leadership the company is in the best of hands to embark on its next growth chapter under a renewed strategy. This has been an intense and fulfilling period, and I see now is a natural moment to hand over and take some time to chart the next phase in my professional life. I would like to express my gratitude to the Supervisory Board for their support and trust over the past 6 years.”

Jean-Marc Huët Chairman of the Heineken N.V. Supervisory Board said: “On behalf of the Supervisory Board, I want to recognise and thank Laurence for her many contributions to HEINEKEN over the past years. She has our sincere thanks and we wish her the very best. I am delighted to welcome Harold to HEINEKEN. We very much look forward to working with him and to benefiting from his proven delivery on strategy and considerable experience as a business leader.”

Source: HEINEKEN