THE NETHERLANDS – AkzoNobel has announced a number of personnel changes in its governance structure. Two new Supervisory Board members will be nominated for election by shareholders at the 2012 Annual General Meeting of shareholders, while Rob Frohn, board of management member responsible for specialty chemicals, will leave the company. All changes will become effective on May 1. Werner Fuhrmann, executive committee member responsible for supply chain and sourcing, will manage specialty chemicals until Frohn’s successor is identified.
 
The proposed two new Supervisory Board members are Sari Baldauf, currently non-executive chairman of the board of Fortum Oyj and director at several other companies, and Ben Verwaayen, currently CEO of Alcatel-Lucent. Baldauf has senior executive experience in building and running global businesses at Nokia Corp. She holds a number of prestigious non-executive positions, including at Daimler AG, alongside her role at Fortum Oyi. Likewise, Verwaayen has many years’ experience operating at the highest level of successful international businesses, including as CEO of BT Group and as Managing Director of KPN in the Netherlands.
 
In addition, Baroness Virginia Bottomley will step down from her position on the supervisory board after having served the company as a supervisory board member for 12 years. The departure will become effective on May 1.