Shareholder ContactContact

The Annual General Meeting of Valora Holding AG approves all proposals by the Board of Directors

06.04.2022 / 17:45 / Media release

  • 2,416,031 registered shares or 55.03% of the share capital represented at today’s Annual General Meeting of Valora Holding AG.
  • Distribution of CHF 3.00 gross per dividend-bearing share approved.
  • Sascha Zahnd elected as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors and all members of the Board of Directors standing for re-election confirmed.
  • All other proposals by the Board of Directors approved.

The Annual General Meeting of Valora Holding AG, chaired by Franz Julen, the outgoing Chairman of the Board of Directors, took place in Basel today. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, shareholders were only able to exercise their rights via the independent proxy and did not participate in person. The proxy represented the votes of 2,416,031 registered shares of Valora Holding AG, equivalent to 55.03% of the share capital. 

The General Meeting approved the distribution of a total of CHF 3.00 gross per dividend-bearing share – half from available earnings and half from the reserve from capital contributions, whereby the latter is withholding-tax-exempt.

The shareholders also elected the previous Vice-Chairman Sascha Zahnd as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors of Valora Holding AG. Sascha Zahnd thus succeeds Franz Julen, who after 15 years on the Board of Directors, including five as Chairman, did not stand for re-election. All other members of the Board of Directors were confirmed in office. Alongside Sascha Zahnd, these include Markus Bernhard, Insa Klasing, Michael Kliger, Dr Karin Schwab and Felix Stinson.

Moreover, the Annual General Meeting passed all other proposals by the Board of Directors. It therefore also approved the 2021 Remuneration Report in a consultative vote and the future total maximum remuneration for the Board of Directors and Group Executive Management in a binding vote.

At its inaugural meeting immediately following the Annual General Meeting, the Board of Directors elected Insa Klasing as the new Vice-Chairman. In addition, the Board of Directors decided to upgrade the existing Governance Board Sustainability to the ESG Committee, a regular body of the Board of Directors equivalent to the other committees. The ESG Committee is chaired by Sascha Zahnd, the other member being Felix Stinson. 

Further information on the 2022 Annual General Meeting of Valora Holding AG is available on this link.

 

Curriculum vitae of the new Chairman of the Board of Directors of Valora Holding AG

Sascha Zahnd

Sascha Zahnd boasts a strong track record in the fields of retail, production and supply chain management at leading global companies. He also embodies the digital pioneer, innovation and transformation spirit that is synonymous with Silicon Valley. Over the past three years, Sascha Zahnd has been a member of the Board of Directors of Valora Holding AG and served as Vice-Chairman between 2020 and today. Since 2021, the 46-year-old Swiss citizen has also been a member of the Board of Directors of MYT Netherlands Parent B.V., the NYSE listed parent company of Mytheresa, an online retailer of luxury fashion. He is also president of the digitalswitzerland initiative that aims to strengthen Switzerland as a leading global location for digital innovation.

From 2016 to 2021, Sascha Zahnd was part of the leadership team at Tesla, California. There he was responsible for the global supply chain and for the EMEA region, where, among other duties, he built up the retail business. He also played an active role in shaping future global topics such as mobility, energy, artificial intelligence and Industry 4.0. He previously worked at ETA SA / Swatch Group for six years where he was responsible for the global supply chain and component production plants as a member of the Executive Board. From 2001, his various functions at IKEA took him from Switzerland to Sweden, Mexico, the US and China, where he held a number of management positions in retail and supply chain operations.

Sascha Zahnd is a qualified forwarding merchant and has earned a degree in Business Administration (University of Applied Sciences) as well as an Executive MA in Business Administration from the IMD Business School Lausanne.
Media release
pdf / 134.66 KB