Editions   North America | Europe | Magazine

WhatTheyThink

Agfa-Gevaert proposes four new Directors; Muller Resigns

Press release from the issuing company

Mortsel/Belgium - March 26, 2003 -- Agfa-Gevaert announces that with effect from the Shareholder's Meeting of April, 29th 2003, Klaus-Peter Müller will resign from the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors thanks him for his dedication in his task as a director. The Board of Directors decided to propose to the Annual Meeting of Shareholders of April 29th 2003, to approve the appointment of four new Directors: John Buttrick, Marc Gedopt, Monte Haymon and Christian Leysen. Marc Gedopt, who succeeds André Bergen as CFAO, will join the Board as an executive director, Christian Leysen will represent Gevaert N.V. and John Buttrick and Monte Haymon will act as independent directors. After the Annual Meeting of Shareholders, the composition of the Board of Directors will consequently be as follows: Pol Bamelis (Chairman), André Bergen, John Buttrick, Fred Chaffart, Jozef Cornu, Marc Gedopt, Monte Haymon, Christian Leysen, André Oosterlinck, Karel Van Miert, Ludo Verhoeven and Dietrich von Kyaw. John Buttrick is 45 years old and American citizen. He graduated at Northwestern University and has a juris doctorate from Villanova University School of Law. He is a partner in LiveWire Ventures, LLC, which invests in and manages companies that provide mission critical software products and services aimed at the telecom, media and other industries. Prior to joining LiveWire in April 2000, John Buttrick was a partner of the law firm Davis Polk & Wardell in New York, where he practiced international corporate law and was a member of the firm's global mergers and acquisitions group. He joined Davis Polk in 1985, practised in the firm's Paris office from 1988 to 1990 and became a partner in 1994. Marc Gedopt is 47 years old and of Belgian nationality. He studied economics at the University of Antwerp and obtained an MBA at the Catholic University of Leuven in 1978. He started his career at Citibank in Belgium and joined Generale Bank in 1984, where he assumed various positions in retail and commercial banking. From 1989 to 1991 he was Chairman of the Executive Board of Banque Européenne pour l'Amérique Latine. In 1991, he returned to Generale Bank where he became responsible for the international network and later for the Antwerp Area. From 1995 to 1999 he was Chairman of the Executive Board of Generale Bank Nederland. In 1999, he became CEO and Chairman of the Managing Board of NIB Capital and NIB Capital Bank, a Dutch venture capital and asset management group. Monte Haymon is 65 years old and of American nationality. He obtained a degree of Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering at Tufts University and an AMP at the Harvard Business School. He was previously president and CEO of Sappi Fine paper North America and currently the non-executive Chairman of this company. Prior to joining Sappi, he had been president and COO of Ply-Gem Industries and, for fourteen years, President and CEO of Packaging Corporation of America, a division of Tenneco, Inc. Christian Leysen (48 years old) is a Belgian citizen. He obtained a degree of Commercial Engineer and Law at the University of Brussels (VUB) in 1976 and started his career with Arthur Andersen & Co. In 1984 he founded Xylos, an IT-service provider. In 1989 he took up the function of COO of Ahlers, a maritime company with headquarters in Antwerp, of which he later became Chairman of the Board of Directors. Currently, he is Chairman of the AXE Group (Ahlers, Xylos and Ecolas), which operates in logistic and IT-activities, the environmental care sector and in investments (through AXE Investments). He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Almanij, Gevaert and Telinfo. As a member of the City Council of Antwerp, he chairs the Board of Directors of the Antwerp Water Works.