Following a Board of Directors’ meeting held on Friday, 5th December, Safran SA said it would split the roles of CEO and chairman after the current Chairman and CEO Jean-Paul Herteman retires next year. Having reached the age limit (he will be 65 next year), his term will expire after the General Meeting scheduled for April 23rd 2015.
The dual management roles of Safran will be taken over by Philippe Petitcolin as CEO, and Ross Mc Innes as Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Having managed Labinal, then Snecma and Sagem, Philippe Petitcolin (photo left), 62, knows the Safran group well, which he joined in 1988. Since 1st July 2013, he has been the Chairman and CEO of Morpho, a Saffran subsidiary specializing in electronics for security.
The Franco-Australian Ross Mc Innes (pictured right), 60, joined Safran in 2009, and has been Executive Vice President in charge of economic and financial affairs since 2011.
Safran is a leading international high-technology group with three core businesses: Aerospace (propulsion and equipment), Defence and Security. The Group employs 66,300 people for a turnover of 14.7 billion euros in 2013. The French government is the largest of Safran’s shareholder with a 22% stake.