(Bloomberg) -- Siemens AG is proposing that Mark Schneider, former chief executive officer of Nestle SA and Fresenius SE, join its supervisory board with the plan of later becoming chairman.
Schneider will be nominated for a four-year term at Siemens’ annual shareholder meeting in February, the company said, replacing Martina Merz who is stepping down.
If elected, Schneider would be set up to succeed Chairman Jim Hagemann Snabe, who is being nominated for a two year-extension. Snabe said in a statement he plans to manage a transition to Schneider within the next two years, calling him an “excellent candidate.”
The move is intended to ensure a smooth transition within Siemens’ supervisory board as the company adjusts to weaker demand for its factory automation products and a boom in its electrification business to serve power hungry data centers.
Schneider, 59, was abruptly ousted as Nestle CEO in August after the Nescafe maker missed market expectations for several quarters and downgraded its outlook for the year. He was only the second Nestle boss to be hired from outside and was lauded for fending off an attack from activist investor Third Point, making a series of divestitures to improve growth.
He also bought vitamins and minerals brands in the US such as Nature’s Bounty for $5.8 billion, but the integration of these went awry, dragging down overall performance. Before joining Nestle in 2017, Schneider had been CEO of pharmaceutical company Fresenius for about 14 years.
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