Anheuser-Busch InBev Shareholders Approve New Chairman

Anheuser-Busch InBev NV said on Wednesday shareholders approved Olivier Goudet as chairman, bringing an end to the leadership of Kees Storm whose term on the board expired.

Mr. Goudet, an independent board member, will serve as chairman for four years. He is the current chief executive of JAB Holding Company, LLC, which has a majority stake in Coty, Inc., Peet's Coffee & Tea and Einstein Noah Restaurant Group. A French citizen, he previously served as the chief financial officer of Mars, Inc. and played a role in the company's $23 billion acquisition of Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. in 2008.

Proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. recommended shareholders vote for Mr. Goudet's re-election as a board member and chairman because he was an independent nominee who would only be elected for four years.

In addition to approving Mr. Goudet's chairmanship, shareholders approved Michele Burns and Kasper Rorsted as new independent directors. They replaced Mr. Storm and outgoing board member Mark Winkelman.

Ms. Burns previously served as chairman and chief executive of Mercer LLC, a global consulting firm. She succeeds Mr. Goudet as chair of the audit committee.

Mr. Rorsted is chief executive of Henkel Corp., the consumer goods company that owns brands like Right Guard, Soft Scrub and Dial. He previously worked at Oracle Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co.

Shareholders also voted in favor of extending the terms of Paul Cornet and Stefan Descheemaeker.

ISS recommended shareholders vote against Messrs. Cornet and Descheemaeker because it said the level of board independence at the company would only be 29%, a level short of the Belgian code on corporate governance that says at least half the board should be nonexecutive directors and three should be independent.

In its meeting materials, AB InBev said its 14-person board has four independent directors and eight directors representing the Brazilian and Belgian families who control the company. It said that directors Valentin Diez and Mariasun Aramburuzabala, who became board members after AB InBev acquired Grupo Modelo SAB B, may not qualify as independent but they don't represent the company's controlling shareholders.

AB InBev shareholders approved a total dividend for 2014 of EUR3 per share. The company paid EUR1 in November and will pay the remaining EUR2 after May 6.

Write to Tripp Mickle at [e-mail]

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