The food company Danone is looking for a new boss

The food company Danone is looking for a new boss of "international format": At pressure from shareholders, the company dismissed its previous chairman Emmanuel Faber without notice, as the group announced at its headquarters in Paris. Investors accused the 57-year-old of mismanagement in the Corona crisis and poor performance against competitors such as Nestlé and Unilever. Until a new boss is found, two Danone managers are to temporarily head the group: Véronique Penchienati-Bosetta, who is responsible for healthy and sustainable nutrition, and Shane Grant, the North American boss. After the announcement of Faber's expulsion, Danone's share price on the Paris Stock Exchange rose significantly: the price per share rose at times by more than five percent to a good 61 euros. Faber was ousted two weeks ago under pressure from investors. At that time it was still said that Faber would remain chairman of the board of directors of Danone. This will now be Gilles Schnepp, the former head of the French electrical engineering group Legrand, as Danone announced. The US investment fund Artisan Partners, the third largest shareholder in Danone with three percent capital, had insisted on selling Faber completely with immediate effect. Danone had lost a quarter of its market value within a year. Artisan Partners and the London-based Bluebell Capital Partners fund have therefore been putting pressure to fire Faber for months. According to their own statements, they pushed for a "really independent" CEO.