By Haig Simonian in Zurich
Holcim, the world?s biggest cement maker by sales, on Tuesday unexpectedly selected a little-known outsider to succeed Markus Akermann as chief executive next year.
The choice of Bernard Fontana, a 50-year-old French engineer, ended a lengthy selection process to find a successor for the Mr Akermann, who is to retire after leading Holcim since 2002.
The selection prompted surprise that the Swiss group had not gone for an internal candidate or a more familiar outside name, given the company?s size and geographical spread.
Mr Fontana is chief executive of Aperam, a Luxembourg-domiciled company spun off last autumn from steelmaker ArcelorMittal. Before that, he was on the steelmaker?s management board, with responsibilities initially for the worldwide automotive business and later for human resources and the alliance with Nippon Steel of Japan.
Holcim said Mr Fontana brought with him international experience from a sector comparable to construction materials and would complement the existing members of its management board.
The news came shortly after Eurocement, a Russian cement maker controlled by oligarch Galchev Filaret, said it had raised its stake in Holcim to just over 10 per cent from 6.5 per cent.
That reinforced the company?s position as Holcim?s second biggest shareholder after Thomas Schmidheiny of the group?s founding family, who has just over 18 per cent.
The search for a successor to Mr Akermann, a Holcim veteran who spearheaded its expansion into developing markets. had been on for some time, amid occasional criticism of the board for not accelerating the process.
?We have succeeded in finding a successor with a winning personality who has a true track record in corporate leadership as well as in central group functions such as HR and sustainable development,? said Rolf Soiron, Holcim?s chairman.
Aperam produces high grade stainless and speciality steels in France, Belgium and Brazil. The group, which has made a feature of low-cost production using biomass and charcoal for energy, has sales of about $6.5bn and around 10,000 employees.
Aperam?s stress on low costs and stress on sustainability may have been significant factors in Mr Fontana?s favour, given the energy-hungry cement industry?s struggle to reduce costs and pollution. But Holcim, with sales last year of more than SFr21bn ($23.8bn) and 80,000 employees around the world, is significantly bigger than Mr Fontana?s current employer.
Mr Akermann, aged 64 and a Holcim employee for more than 30 years, will retain his connection with the company, remaining on the board until 2013.
? The Financial Times Limited 2011