Rolando Benedick has decided not to stand for re-election to Valora's Board of Directors at the 2017 Annual General Meeting, thus relinquishing his Chairmanship as of that date. Shareholders will be invited to elect Franz Julen as the new Chairman of Valora's Board of Directors.
Rolando Benedick was elected both as a Valora Board member and Board Chairman in January 2008. Under his supervision, the Valora Group has transformed itself into a modern, focused retail enterprise. Valora today commands a position of strength, from which it is ideally placed to face the challenges of the future. Rolando Benedick is handing over leadership of the Valora Group at a time when it enjoys promising prospects and a number of new growth opportunities are presenting themselves.
While the Board of Directors and Group Executive Management regret Mr. Benedick's departure, they fully respect this personal decision on his part. Board and management are most grateful to Mr. Benedick for the outstanding commitment he has demonstrated during his time at Valora, characterised as it has been both by the strength of his personality and his comprehensive retail expertise. They wish him every happiness for the future.
At the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders to be held on March 30, 2017, the Board will recommend that shareholders elect Franz Julen as Valora's new Board Chairman. In addition to being already a member of the Valora Board, Franz Julen has also worked for INTERSPORT International Corp. GmbH (IIC) for the last 19 years, holding the position of CEO since May 2000, a role he will relinquish at the end of this year. During his time in office, the world's leading and largest sports retailer, whose current network now encompasses 5,800 outlets, has doubled its annual retail turnover to € 11.3 billion and quadrupled its geographic presence to 65 individual countries. His international retail experience and leadership qualities provide him with the ideal qualifications for Chairmanship of Valora's Board of Directors.