Diageo
plc
LEI:
213800ZVIELEA55JMJ32
This
announcement contains inside information
Nik
Jhangiani to join Diageo as Chief Financial Officer
3
May 2024, London, UK: Diageo plc ('Diageo') today announces that Nik Jhangiani will
join the company as Chief Financial Officer, taking up the position
and joining Diageo's Board and Executive Committee in Autumn
2024.
Lavanya Chandrashekar will step down
from the Executive Committee and Board at the same time after three
years as Chief Financial Officer and six years with the company,
and will return to the US.
Nik Jhangiani is currently Chief
Financial Officer at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP), the
world's largest Coca-Cola bottler with revenues of over
€18 billion in 2023, a role he has held since
2016. CCEP is listed on the London Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, Euronext
Amsterdam, and the Spanish Stock Exchanges.
Nik has more than 30 years of
finance experience gained in roles in the UK, Europe, India, Africa
and the US, including 20 years as Chief Financial Officer; and has
spent most of his career in consumer and beverage industries
including 20 years within the Coca-Cola
system.
Prior to his
current role, Nik was Chief Financial Officer and SVP at Coca-Cola
Enterprises (CCE) from 2013 to 2016, having joined CCE in
2012. From 2009 to 2012 Nik was Group Chief Financial Officer
at Bharti Enterprises, one of India's leading business groups with
operations in 21 countries and interests in telecoms, food, retail
and real estate.
Lavanya Chandrashekar joined Diageo
in 2018 as Chief Financial Officer North America and was appointed
Chief Financial Officer of Diageo plc in July 2021. Lavanya
has been key to the delivery of a 10.5% net sales value CAGR and
has been instrumental in accelerating Diageo's productivity agenda.
Under Lavanya's leadership, the business is on track to
exceed its $1.5 billion three-year
productivity savings target by the end of fiscal 24, and has
increased long term investment in capital expenditure and maturing
stock by 40%+, while creating value for shareholders by growing
dividends and continuing its return of capital programme.
Lavanya has also put in place Diageo's £500 million supply agility
programme which will help deliver the company's $2.0 billion
productivity target from fiscal 25 to
fiscal 27.
Debra Crew, Chief Executive, Diageo
said:
"I am delighted that Nik will be
joining us. He is a highly experienced CFO with a proven
global track-record of generating growth across multiple consumer
businesses and industries. Nik's experience and international
mindset will make him a strong addition to our leadership
team.
"I am grateful to Lavanya for her
leadership over the last six years and her contribution as Diageo
successfully expanded our business through a global pandemic and
delivered major productivity savings. I want to thank Lavanya
for being a trusted colleague and partner to me, both when we
worked together in North America, and more recently as I took on
the role of Chief Executive Officer. On behalf of all Diageo
colleagues, I wish her much future success as she returns to the
US.
"With a strong focus on execution,
we will continue to invest behind our world-leading brands to
create value for shareholders and maintain our position as an
industry leader in total beverage alcohol, which we strongly
believe is an attractive sector with a long runway for
growth."
Javier Ferrán, Chair, Diageo
said:
"I look forward to welcoming Nik to
Diageo, and to the Board. I am confident that his record of
success as a CFO in multiple relevant markets and sectors will
further strengthen our long-term track record of delivering
long-term sustainable returns for our shareholders. The Board
also wishes to thank Lavanya warmly for her strong contributions to
Diageo over the past six years. She has been instrumental in
framing our long-term ambitions and driving a culture of
operational excellence throughout her tenure, and we wish her well
for the future."
Nik Jhangiani
said:
"I am delighted to be joining
Diageo. It is an organisation I have long admired and one of
the world's most respected and trusted consumer businesses. I
look forward to working with my new colleagues to drive value for
Diageo's shareholders, and to support the company's strong track
record of building and sustaining exceptional
brands."
Lavanya Chandrashekar
said:
"I am proud to have overseen a
strong period of growth for Diageo, and to have embedded a culture
of productivity and efficiency which will set the business up for
long-term success. I am very grateful to my exceptionally
talented Finance, Data and Technology, and Shared Service
Operations teams, and I wish Debra and all my Diageo colleagues the
best for the future."
In accordance with Listing Rule
9.6.15, Diageo confirms that there are no further details to be
disclosed pursuant to Listing Rule 9.6.13.
Tom Shropshire, General Counsel and
Company Secretary, is responsible for arranging the release of this
announcement on behalf of Diageo.
ENDS
Contacts
Investor relations:
Durga Doraisamy
Andy Ryan
|
+44 (0) 7902 126 906
+44 (0) 7803 854 842 investor.relations@diageo.com
|
Media relations: Brendan
O'Grady
Rebecca Perry
Clare Cavana
|
+44 (0) 7812 183 750
+44 (0) 7590 809 101
+44 (0) 7751 742 072
press@diageo.com
|
Notes to editors
Nik Jhangiani
biography
Nik (Manik) Jhangiani is currently
Chief Financial Officer of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners plc
(CCEP), the world's largest Coca-Cola bottler, which is
headquartered in the UK and operates across 31 markets with 81
production sites and 42,000 employees, serving around 2 million
customers and 600 million consumers.
Nik was appointed Chief Financial
Officer of Coca-Cola European Partners in May 2016. His
responsibilities have included managing all aspects of the finance
function, external financial reporting, mergers and acquisitions,
investor relations, business unit finance, internal audit, finance
transformation and tax & treasury. During his tenure Nik
has demonstrated significant capital markets, M&A, and investor
relations responsibilities, steering the organisation through
complex transactions, delivering business synergies and creating
value for shareholders.
From 2009 to 2012 Nik was Group
Chief Financial Officer and a member of the management board at
Bharti Enterprises, one of India's leading business groups with
operations in 21 countries and interests in telecoms, food, retail
and real estate, where he led the acquisition of the African assets
of the Zain Group for an enterprise valuation of $10.7 billion, and
conducted a strategic review across the Bharti business resulting
in several key decisions including exiting from a financial
services joint venture with AXA. He was also involved in the
preparations for one of India's largest IPOs in the telecoms tower
space.
Nik is a Certified Public Accountant
in the state of New York and holds a degree in economics and
accounting from Rutgers University. He began his career with
Deloitte, then working at Bristol Myers Squibb in International
Audit, and the Colgate Palmolive Company in roles including Group
Financial Director for Nigeria, before joining the Coca-Cola
Company in Atlanta in 1998. In 2000, he joined the
newly-formed Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, becoming Chief
Financial Officer in 2004 where he held a number of senior
responsibilities before joining Bharti Enterprises. Nik will
continue to be based in the UK when he joins
Diageo.
Lavanya Chandrashekar
biography
Lavanya was appointed Chief
Financial Officer of Diageo plc and a member of the Board of
Directors of Diageo in July 2021. In addition to her core finance
responsibilities, Lavanya also leads Diageo's Data and Technology,
Shared Service Operations, and until recently Strategy
functions. As CFO Lavanya has driven several large
transformation projects including the change of functional currency
from GBP to USD, instituting a new Global Process Ownership model,
and the implementation of SAP 4 HANA.
Lavanya joined Diageo in 2018 as
Chief Financial Officer, North America, Diageo's largest business
unit accounting for ~40% of revenues and more than half of group
profits. In that role, Lavanya was instrumental in returning the
North America business to sustainable market share growth,
integrating the Casamigos acquisition, and leading the divestiture
of 18 small brands. Lavanya later took on additional
responsibilities as Global Head of Investor Relations, formulating
the Group's new investor communications strategy in the midst of
the Covid crisis.
Prior to joining Diageo in 2018,
Lavanya Chandrashekar spent nearly five years at Mondelēz
International. As VP Finance, Global Cost Leadership and Supply
Chain, Lavanya led a global productivity programme that delivered
strong operating margin improvement during a period of shareholder
activism. Prior to this, Lavanya was Regional CFO of the Eastern
Europe, Middle East and Africa business based in Dubai during a
period of extreme macro and geopolitical volatility, driving
consistent revenue and profit growth while transitioning from a
traditional finance organization to a shared service outsourcing
model.
Prior to Mondelēz International,
Lavanya spent 18 years at Procter & Gamble in senior finance
positions in India, Asia, Europe and North
America.
Supplementary
information
Nik Jhangiani
Nik Jhangiani's remuneration package
will include an annual salary of £900,000 and a pension
contribution (or allowance in lieu) of 14% of base salary, in line
with the maximum pension contribution level for new employees to
the UK workforce. Nik will also have an annual incentive plan opportunity, bonus
deferral, long term incentive plan opportunity and shareholding
requirement as an Executive Director in accordance with Diageo's
Directors' Remuneration Policy, as approved by
shareholders.
Nik will receive replacement awards
in respect of the incentives which are forfeited as a result of him
leaving his current employer to join Diageo in accordance with
Diageo's Directors' Remuneration Policy.
Details of Nik's future remuneration
will be included in the Directors' Remuneration Report for the year
ending 30 June 2024.
Lavanya
Chandrashekar
The remuneration arrangements for
Lavanya have been determined by the Remuneration Committee in line
with the Directors' Remuneration Policy and her service contract.
Full details will be included in the Directors' Remuneration Report
for the year ending 30 June
2024.
In summary, Lavanya will be eligible
to receive a bonus under Diageo's Annual Incentive Plan (AIP) for
the financial years ending 30 June 2024 and 30 June 2025, payable
at the normal times and subject, as appropriate, to time pro-rating
and financial and individual performance, with one-third of any
bonus payable delivered in deferred bonus shares. All Long-Term
Incentive Plan (LTIP) awards which are unvested at the point
Lavanya's employment ceases will be pro-rated to the date of
cessation of employment and will remain subject to performance
conditions measured over the original performance period and a
two-year post-vesting holding period. The Company's Malus and
Clawback Policy will continue to apply. Lavanya will be subject to post-employment shareholding
requirements as set out in the Directors' Remuneration Policy. The
policy requires her to continue to hold shares to the value of the
lesser of 400% of her salary on cessation of employment or her
actual holding.
About Diageo
Diageo is a global leader in beverage
alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands including Johnnie
Walker, Crown Royal, JεB and Buchanan's whiskies, Smirnoff, Cîroc
and Ketel One vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio, Tanqueray
and Guinness.
Diageo is a global company, and our
products are sold in nearly 180 countries around the world. The
company is listed on both the London Stock Exchange (DGE) and the
New York Stock Exchange (DEO). For more information about Diageo,
our people, our brands, and performance, visit us at
www.diageo.com. Visit Diageo's global responsible drinking
resource, www.DRINKiQ.com for information, initiatives, and ways to
share best practice.
Celebrating life, every day, everywhere