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Louis Dreyfus Commodities Adds Three New Board Members

Louis Dreyfus Commodities Adds Three New Board Members
Published: Apr 07, 2014

ROTTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS, 7 April 2014 – Louis Dreyfus Commodities Holdings today announced that it will welcome three new members to its Supervisory Board, effective April 15, 2014.

The three new Board members will be Michel Demaré, Steven J. Wisch, and Dr. Jörg Wolle.

“Our new Board members come with extensive expertise and a wealth of experience in their respective fields, and I am delighted that they are joining us” commented Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, Chairperson of Louis Dreyfus Holding. “In 2013 we continued to diversify and expand, both geographically and across the value chain, with our shipped volumes increasing by 11%. Our impressive and sustained pace of growth makes the on-going evolution of our management structure, started in June 2013, all the more relevant. The time is right to further reinforce that structure, ensuring we meet the highest standards of governance. The Supervisory Board, with its global outlook and solid corporate experience, will continue to provide precious oversight and guidance on the Group’s operational conduct while supporting, in particular, the management transition,” she added.

Michel Demaré is Chairman of the Board of Syngenta AG since 2013 and Vice Chairman of the Board of UBS AG since 2010. He is also Chairman of the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, Chairman of SwissHoldings, the Federation of Industrial and Service Groups in Switzerland, and member of the Supervisory Board of IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland. Previously, he was Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of ABB from 2005 to 2013, and held the role of President of Global Markets from November 2008 until 2011. Mr. Demaré holds a degree in Applied Economics and an MBA from the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium. He is a Belgian citizen.

Steven J. Wisch is the Managing Partner of El Dorado Partners, LLC, an investment firm.  He previously (2004 to 2013) was the Co-Founder of various businesses in India including IREO, one of India’s largest real estate development companies. He served as the Chief Operating Officer of the non-profit organization 9/11 United Services Group from 2001 to 2002.  Prior to this, he was a Partner and Managing Director at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he served in various capacities in corporate finance, M & A, capital markets, executive administration, private wealth management and asset management from 1983 to 2001. He is a Board Member of SEACOR Holdings, Inc., Channel Control Merchants, LLC, the U.S.-India Business Council and sits on various Advisory Boards at Stanford University. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is Co-Chairman of The Ramer Institute in Berlin, Germany. Mr. Wisch holds a BA in Political Science from Stanford University, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is an American citizen.

Dr. Jörg Wolle has been President and CEO of DKSH Holding Ltd. since 2002. Previously, he was President and CEO of SiberHegner Holding Ltd. from 2000 to 2002, and before held several positions within Siber Hegner as well as the SKF Group in Asia as from 1988. He is also Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kuehne + Nagel International Ltd., Switzerland and a Director of Diethelm Keller Holding Ltd., Switzerland. Between 2006 – 2009 he served on the Board of Directors of UBS Group, Switzerland. He is Honorary Professor at the University of Applied Sciences, Zwickau, Germany. Dr. Wolle holds a PhD in Engineering from the University of Technology Chemnitz, Germany. He is both a German and Swiss citizen.

In addition to these new members, the Supervisory Board of Louis Dreyfus Commodities Holdings B.V. consists of Serge Schoen, Chairman; Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, Deputy Chairperson; Jean-René Angeloglou and Mehdi El Glaoui. Raymond Cretegny and Aimery Langlois-Meurinne, who have served on the Supervisory Board since 2011 will be retiring from the Board as of April 15, 2014.