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JAB Expands Management As Chairman Becht Retires

By Dayeeta Das
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JAB Expands Management As Chairman Becht Retires

JAB Holding Co, the private owner of coffee and restaurant businesses including Keurig Dr Pepper and Pret A Manger, will bring in three new executives as its chairman, Bart Becht, retires, the company has said.

Becht, a consumer industry veteran and former CEO of Reckitt Benckiser will retire this year, JAB, controlled by the billionaire Reimann family, said on Monday, without giving a date.

"After almost 40 years in the branded consumer business, I have decided it is time to refocus my activities and retire,” Becht said in a statement.

The news comes days after Coty, in which JAB is the largest shareholder, announced a management shake-up of its own.

JAB, which also controls coffee business Jacobs Douwe Egberts and restaurant Panera Bread, will continue to be run by Peter Harf and Olivier Goudet.

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New Executives

It is, however, bringing in three new executives - Fabien Simon, Ricard Rittes and Jacek Szarzynski.

Simon will be the group's chief financial officer, Rittes will lead expansion into emerging markets by opening a new office in Brazil, and Szarzynski will be lead operating partner for the newly created Pret Panera Holding Co.

All three executives have experience at Mars or Anheuser-Busch InBev, where the existing partners also have experience. JAB CEO, Olivier Goudet, is the current chairman of AB InBev, and a former CFO of Mars.

News by Reuters, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.

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