CEO of Alstom Reorganizes Company to Boost its Development (France)

Business & Finance

 

The Alstom Board has approved a major reorganisation of the company proposed by Patrick Kron, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Alstom. This reorganisation is effective on 4 July 2011.

Alstom has undergone a period of strong growth, followed by the necessary adaptation to a tougher economic environment created by the crisis. As the company is experiencing a rebound in orders, this new organisation will allow the Group to better anticipate the structural changes in its business, accelerate its development and achieve its performance objectives. It will strengthen the Group’s ability to address strategic moves, focus the Sectors on their operational objectives (commercial efficiency, product development, quality and project execution) and simplify the ways of working (quicker and leaner decision making processes, and empowerment).

This reorganisation includes the creation of a position of Deputy Chief Executive Officer, the reshaping of the operational activities of the Group into four Sectors and a major evolution of its Executive Committee.

Philippe Joubert, who has successfully led the recovery and the development of the Power Sector, is appointed Deputy Chief Executive Officer. He assists Patrick Kron in the strategy and Group development, the sustainable development and the supervision of the international network.

The operational activities of the Group, which were until now, split into three Sectors (Power, Transport and Grid) will now be organised in four Sectors:

• Alstom Thermal Power,

• Alstom Renewable Power,

• Alstom Grid,

• Alstom Transport.

The split of the current Power Sector into two Sectors, Thermal and Renewable, will allow the functioning of both entities to be simplified and to better address their specific markets.

Each of these four Sectors will have a new President:

Philippe Cochet, currently Senior Vice-President Alstom Hydro and Wind within the Power Sector, is appointed President of Alstom Thermal Power and Executive Vice-President of Alstom. The new Alstom Thermal Power Sector has sales of over €9 billion (in 2010/11) and 38,000 employees. It covers Gas, Steam and Nuclear power generation as well as the Service and Automation & Control activities.

Jérôme Pécresse, who leaves Imerys to join Alstom, is appointed President of the Alstom Renewable Power Sector and Executive Vice-President of Alstom. The new Alstom Renewable Power Sector has sales of around €2 billion (2010/11) and 10,000 employees. It covers Hydro, Wind and other renewable sources of energy.

Henri Poupart-Lafarge, currently Executive Vice-President of Alstom and President of the Grid Sector, is appointed President of the Transport Sector. He leaves Alstom Grid at the request of Patrick Kron to replace Philippe Mellier, whose departure from the company was announced on 16 May. Alstom Transport has sales of more than €5 billion (2010/11) and 24,000 employees.

Grégoire Poux-Guillaume, a former Alstom manager, leaves CVC Capital Partners to return to Alstom. He is appointed President of the Alstom Grid Sector and Executive Vice-President of Alstom. The Grid Sector has sales of more than €4 billion (2010/11 pro-forma) and 19,000 employees.

In addition, Keith Carr, Group General Counsel since April 2011, and Bruno Guillemet, Senior Vice-President Human Resources of the Group since September 2010, join the Executive Committee. Bruno Guillemet replaces Patrick Dubert who joined Alstom in 2003 as Senior Vice-President, Human Resources and who will continue to assist the CEO on specific missions and projects.

Alstom’s Executive Committee will have 9 members, of which five new members. Around Patrick Kron as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, the Executive Committee will be composed of Philippe Joubert, Deputy Chief Executive Officer; Philippe Cochet, President of Alstom Thermal Power and Executive Vice-President; Jérôme Pécresse, President of Alstom Renewable Power and Executive Vice-President; Henri Poupart-Lafarge, President of Alstom Transport and Executive Vice-President; Grégoire Poux-Guillaume, President of Alstom Grid and Executive Vice-President; Nicolas Tissot, Chief Financial Officer; Bruno Guillemet, Senior Vice-President, Human Resources; Keith Carr, General Counsel.

Keith Carr, aged 45, is a graduate from Northumbria University in the United Kingdom with an honours degree in law, a solicitor and a chartered secretary. He starts his career in legal and contracts at NEI, a British group comprising engineering companies. He moves to Deloitte in 1990 firstly providing company law advice and subsequently has a role in corporate recovery. In 1995, he joins ABB as head of legal for its gas turbine division in the UK, and then becomes head of legal for all of the ABB power operations in the UK. After the merger with Alstom, Keith Carr becomes head of legal and contracts group for Alstom‘s gas turbines activities worldwide, based in Baden, Switzerland. He is appointed Deputy General Counsel (2004) then General Counsel of Alstom Power (2005). Keith Carr is finally appointed Alstom Group’s General Counsel in April 2011.

Philippe Cochet, aged 51, is a graduate engineer from the CESTI (Centre d’Etudes Supérieures de Techniques Industrielles). He begins his career in 1986 as a consultant. From 1988 to 1994, he holds different positions in Thomson Multimedia. At the end of 1994, he joins General Electric Medical Systems Europe (GEMS) where he is Vice-President Operations Europe, Vice-President Eastern Europe and Senior Vice-President X Ray division. In 2001 and 2002, he is in charge at Alstom of the environmental control business. In 2003, he joins the Hager group as Executive Vice-President of Operations and a member of the board of Directors. Back at Alstom in April 2006, Philippe Cochet is Vice-President of Alstom Hydro and then of Alstom Hydro and Wind.

Bruno Guillemet, aged 54, is a graduate from Paris-Assas University where he gained a DESS in Management of Personnel. He begins his career at the iron & steel Sacilor Group. Between 1986 and 1989, he is responsible for organisation, development and training functions at Pechiney. He joins Danone in 1989, where he is successively site HR Director, Vice-President Social Policy and Industrial Relations and Vice President Human Resources for the Americas. In August 2004, Bruno Guillemet joins Alstom Transport as head of Human Resources. In September 2010 he is appointed Senior Vice President, Human Resources, for the Alstom Group.

Philippe Joubert, aged 57, is a graduate from Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales (ESSEC). He starts his career in 1976 as Secretary for the Chamber of Commerce in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Between 1977 and 1982, he holds various positions in the Brazilian bank BFB, part of Credit Lyonnais. In 1983, he moves to the USA as Commercial Vice-President of Credit Lyonnais USA. He joins Alstom in 1986, as Finance Director of GEC ALSTHOM Mecanica Pesada in Brazil. In 1991, he is appointed President & CEO of GEC ALSTHOM Mecanica Pesada, and additionally, in 1992, General Delegate of GEC ALSTHOM in Brazil. In 1997, he becomes Country President, GEC ALSTHOM Brazil, and Managing Director of Alstom Transporte do Brasil Ltda. In 2003, he is appointed President of Alstom’s Transmission & Distribution Sector and member of the Executive Committee. In February 2004, he becomes President of the Power Systems Sector and Alstom Executive Vice-President, then, in March 2009, President of Alstom Power.

Jérôme Pécresse, aged 44, is a former student of the Ecole Polytechnique and an engineer from Ponts & Chaussées. He joins Crédit Suisse First Boston in 1992 as associate, then Vice-President and finally Director responsible for mergers and acquisitions for France. He thus joins Imerys in 1998 where he is first Vice-President Strategy and Development, then Director Finance and Strategy (2003-2006) and Director of the Ceramics, Refractories, Abrasives and Filtration Division (2006-2008). Jérôme Pécresse is appointed Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Imerys in 2008.

Henri Poupart-Lafarge, aged 42, is a former student of Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées and a graduate of the Massachussetts Institute of Technology. He begins his career in 1992 at the World Bank in Washington before joining the Economy and Finance Ministry in 1994 in the Treasury, then the Economy and Finance Ministry cabinet. He joins Alstom in 1998 where he is successively head of Investor Relations, in charge of the Management Control then, in 2000, Chief Finance Officer at the Transmission and Distribution Sector, sold in 2004. He is Chief Finance Officer of the Alstom Group between 2004 and 2010. He is appointed Executive Vice-President and President of the new Grid Sector in June 2010.

Grégoire Poux-Guillaume, aged 41, is a former student of the Ecole Centrale de Paris with an MBA from Harvard. He is first an engineer and head of drilling in offshore exploration at Total (1993-1997) before becoming a consultant with McKinsey in 1999. After two years in the private equity business, he works at Alstom from 2003 to 2009, firstly as Vice-President Strategy (until 2004) then as Director Hydro power plant activities and from, 2005, Director of Environmental Control activities. He joins the private equity company, CVC Capital Partners, in 2009.

Nicolas Tissot, 44, is a graduate of HEC, Ecole Nationale d’Administration and a Finance Inspector. He starts his career at the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry (1995-1999), and then joins Suez, where he first works in the Finance Control Department, then appointed Head of Group business control (2000-2003). He is subsequently appointed Chief Financial Officer and Executive VP of Suez Energy International (2003-2005), Chief Financial Officer of Electrabel in 2005, and since 2009, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of GDF-Suez’s Global Gas & LNG business. He is appointed Alstom’s Chief Financial Officer in May 2010.

About Alstom Alstom is a global leader in the world of power generation, power transmission and rail infrastructure and sets the benchmark for innovative and environmentally friendly technologies. Alstom builds the fastest train and the highest capacity automated metro in the world, provides turnkey integrated power plant solutions and associated services for a wide variety of energy sources, including hydro, nuclear, gas, coal and wind, and it offers a wide range of solutions for power transmission, with a focus on smart grids. The Group employs 93,500 people in around 100 countries, and had sales of over €20.9 billion in 2010/11.

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Source: alstom, June 16, 2011