Sodexo announces the composition of Pluxee’s future Board of Directors
Proposed Board members bring highly relevant leadership experience, acquired both in large publicly listed companies and start-ups.
Issy-les-Moulineaux, December 13, 2023 - The future Board combines substantial global leadership experience, spanning from technology start-ups to major publicly listed companies, and strong expertise in areas such as digital, data management, cybersecurity, payment, and human resources.
The Executive Chair of the Board will be Didier Michaud-Daniel. The Board will include four representatives of the Bellon family, as well as five independent directors, as follows:
Bellon family directors:
Sophie Bellon, Sodexo’s Chairwoman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer;
Nathalie Bellon-Szabo, CEO, Sodexo Live! Worldwide;
François-Xavier Bellon, Chairman of the Management Board of Bellon S.A.;
Laszlo Szabo, Co-Founder and CEO of start-up Kiln.
Independent directors:
Guillaume Boutin, CEO of Proximus;
Bénédicte Chrétien, Group HR Director and member of Crédit Agricole S.A.'s Executive Committee;
Arnaud Loiseau, CEO of Redpin;
Michel-Alain Proch, CFO and member of the Management Board of Publicis Group;
Bénédicte de Raphélis Soissan, Founder and General Partner of Emblem.
Didier Michaud-Daniel, Executive Chair of the Board of Pluxee, said: “I have full confidence that the future Board combines the leadership, expertise, and diversity of perspectives to guide Pluxee in the execution of its strategy as it embarks on this exciting journey as a pure player. Together, we will steer the company’s trajectory in delivering sustained growth and value creation for its stakeholders.”
The proposed Board members will be appointed before the completion of the spin-off and listing of Pluxee during a general meeting with Sodexo as sole shareholder.
About Sodexo
Founded in Marseille in 1966 by Pierre Bellon, Sodexo is the global leader in sustainable food and valued experiences at every moment in life: learn, work, heal and play. The Group stands out for its independence, its founding family shareholding and its responsible business model. Its portfolio of activities includes Sodexo Food and Facilities Management Services and Pluxee Employee Benefit Solutions, activity for which the Group announced a spin-off and listing project in early 2024. This diversified offer meets all the challenges of everyday life with a dual goal: to improve the quality of life of our employees and those we serve, and contribute to the economic, social and environmental progress in the communities where we operate. For Sodexo, growth and social commitment go hand in hand. Our purpose is to create a better everyday for everyone to build a better life for all.
Sodexo is included in the CAC Next 20, CAC 40 ESG, CAC SBT 1.5, FTSE 4 Good and DJSI indices.
Key Figures
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About Pluxee
Pluxee is a global leader in employee benefits and engagement that operates in 31 countries. Pluxee helps companies attract and retain talents thanks to a broad range of benefits and engagement solutions across Meal & Food, Wellbeing, Lifestyle, Reward & Recognition, and Public Benefits.
Powered by best-in-class secured technology, and its more than 5,000 diverse and engaged team members, Pluxee acts as a trusted partner within a highly interconnected B2B2C ecosystem made up of more than 500,000 clients, 36 million consumers and 1.7 million merchants.
Conducting its business as a trusted partner since for than 45 years, Pluxee is committed to creating a positive impact on all its stakeholders, from driving business to local communities, to supporting wellbeing at work for employees while protecting the planet.
For more information: www.pluxeegroup.com
Notes to Editors
Biographies of the future Board of Directors
Didier Michaud-Daniel, from March 2012 to end of June 2023, served as CEO of Bureau Veritas, a world leader in laboratory testing, inspection, and certification services with annual revenue of €5.7bn and a market cap of €11bn, listed on Euronext Paris and part of the SBF 120 index. Didier Michaud-Daniel started his career in 1981 at OTIS, the world's leading elevator and escalator manufacturing, installation, and service company, where he held operations and sales positions. He was appointed Deputy General Manager of Operations in January 1998. Didier Michaud-Daniel then became Managing Director of OTIS UK and Ireland based in London, then Chairman of OTIS for the UK, Germany, and the Central Europe region, before being appointed Executive Chairman of the USD12bn revenue company OTIS Elevator in May 2008, a role for which he was based in the US for 4 years. Since 2019, Didier Michaud-Daniel has been an independent member of the Supervisory Board of Tarkett, a family-controlled company, global leader in the industry of flooring solutions. Since June 2023, Didier Michaud-Daniel has also been a member of the Board of Directors of the SAUR group, a global provider of water services. Didier Michaud-Daniel is a graduate of Poitiers’ school of business management and the European Business Administration Institute INSEAD and is Knight of the Legion of Honor (chevalier de la Légion d’honneur), one of the most recognized French order of Merit.
Sophie Bellon is the Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer of Sodexo. Sophie began her career in 1985 with Crédit Lyonnais in the United States as a mergers and acquisitions advisor for the bank’s French clientele in New York. She joined Sodexo in 1994 as a senior analyst in the group’s Finance Department. In 2001, she was appointed Project Manager – Strategic Financial Planning within the group’s Strategic Planning Department to develop and implement key performance indicators for the group. In September 2005, she was named Group Vice President of Client Retention and was responsible for the worldwide deployment of the initiative on client retention. In September 2008, she was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Corporate Services for Sodexo France. In that capacity, she also took over responsibility for Facilities Management activities in France in September 2010. In November 2013, Sophie Bellon was appointed Vice Chairwoman of the Sodexo Board of Directors (replacing Robert Baconnier) and was also entrusted with specific responsibilities such as increasing, within Sodexo, the pace of Research, Development and Innovation, particularly in Quality of Life services division. On January 26, 2016, Sophie Bellon became Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Sodexo S.A. Following the departure of Denis Machuel on September 30, 2021, she took on the position of interim Chief Executive Officer of Sodexo from October 1, 2021, before being appointed Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer by the Board of Directors on February 15, 2022.
Nathalie Bellon-Szabo began her career in the food services industry in 1987. In 1989, she became Account Manager for Scott Traiteur, and then Sales Manager of Le Pavillon Royal. She joined Sodexo in March 1996 as Sales Director for Sodexo Prestige in France, becoming a Regional Manager in 1999. In September 2003, she was appointed Managing Director of Sodexo Prestige, and Managing Director of L’Affiche in January 2006. She became Chief Executive Officer of Sodexo Prestige Sports and Leisure in France on September 1, 2010, and Chairwoman of the Management Board of Lenôtre in 2012. On September 1, 2015, Nathalie Bellon-Szabo was appointed Chief Executive Officer Sports and Leisure France, On-site Services and Chief Operating Officer Sports and Leisure Worldwide, On-site Services. On June 19, 2018, she was appointed Chief Executive Officer Sports and Leisure (now Sodexo Live!) Worldwide and joined the Group Executive Committee. In September 2021, Sodexo unveiled Sodexo Live! its brand dedicated to hospitality, events, sports, and leisure. Nathalie Bellon-Szabo is its Managing Director worldwide with the ambition to make Sodexo Live! the world reference for catering and hospitality experiences in the worlds of sports, tourism, leisure, and events. She is also the Chairwoman of the Pierre Bellon Foundation.
François-Xavier Bellon is currently Chairman of the Management Board of Bellon S.A. François-Xavier began his career in 1990 with the Adecco group, working first in France and then in Spain. In 1995, he joined Sodexo Group, taking up an operational role in the Healthcare segment in France. In 1999, he was appointed Regional Director in Mexico City and subsequently became Chief Executive Officer of Sodexo Mexico. In 2004, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Sodexo UK & Ireland. He resigned from his position a few months later for health reasons. He rejoined the Adecco group in September 2004 and headed up the Sales and Marketing Department of the Global Staffing Division as well as managing the group’s key international accounts, based between Zurich and London. Through this experience he gained a deep knowledge of human resources management. In May 2007, François-Xavier Bellon took over a company based in the United Kingdom that provides home care services to dependent people, of which he became Chief Executive Officer before founding LifeCarers. He then left LifeCarers in November 2019 to focus on his various roles within Bellon S.A.
Laszlo Szabo, since January 2018, has been the Co-Founder and CEO of Kiln, the leading digital asset yield platform. Kiln democratizes value creation in the digital asset ecosystem by offering platforms easy access to yields benefiting millions of users. Previously, Laszlo co-founded Skill Hunter in 2015, a tech recruitment agency based in Marseille focusing on tech profiles to help companies shape the future. During that time, Laszlo developed a keen interest in the blockchain ecosystem and technologies. Laszlo Szabo holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Hospitality Management from Glion, Switzerland.
Guillaume Boutin, since December 1, 2019, has been the Chief Executive Officer of Proximus, a leading provider of telecom and digital services, operating in Benelux as well as in other global markets, listed on Euronext Brussels and part of the BEL20 index. He joined the Proximus Executive Committee as Chief Consumer Market Officer in August 2017. Guillaume Boutin started his career in Istranet, a web start-up. He then joined SFR, where he successively held various positions in strategy, finance, and marketing until he joined Canal+ Group in 2015 as Chief Marketing Officer. He holds a master’s degree from Telecom Sud Paris and a master’s degree from HEC Paris. He is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of BICS and Telesign, two Proximus entities.
Bénédicte Chrétien is currently Group Human Resources Director, and a member of Executive committee, at Crédit Agricole S.A. Bénédicte Chrétien began her career in the Human Resources Department of Axa in 1992, with responsibility over the IT department. In 1995, she joined the Human Resources team at Axa Investment Managers, the asset management entity of the Axa group as Recruitment Officer. She subsequently helped set up the private management division at Axa Investment Managers, taking on sales responsibilities. In 2001, Bénédicte Chrétien supported acquisitions and restructuring, reporting directly to the CEO of Axa Investment Managers. In 2003, she returned to Human Resources and was responsible for support functions before being appointed Operational Head of Human Resources at Axa Investment Managers, where she supported the company's international expansion in the United States, Europe, and Asia. In 2010, Bénédicte Chrétien was promoted Global Head of Human Resources, a member of the Executive Committee and a member of the Board of Directors of Axa Investment Managers Paris. In 2013, she was appointed Head of Human Resources and a member of the Executive Committee of the Edmond de Rothschild group in Geneva. In November 2014, she joined Crédit Agricole S.A. as HR Director for International Subsidies. She serves today as Group Head of Human Resources. Bénédicte Chrétien holds a master’s degree in human resources from Paris I University. She has also been a Non-Executive Director at Indosuez Wealth since 2018 and at Amundi since 2023, two entities of Crédit Agricole Group.
Arnaud Loiseau is currently the CEO of Redpin, a global technology and payment company backed by private equity funds Blackstone, Corsair and Palamon Capital. He was previously the Chief Executive Officer of the International division of WorldRemit (today Zepz), a USD5bn consumer fintech company. From 2013 to 2020 he was Vice President at King Digital Entertainment (USD7bn IPO on NYSE), the developer of the leading mobile game Candy Crush Saga. There, he led various functions including corporate development, strategy, publishing, and new product development. Arnaud joined King after he sold mobile TV companion application Starling.tv, which he co-founded. Starting his career in 2001 as a trader at Société Générale, Arnaud rapidly moved to Reuters in New York where he supported M&A activities and corporate development. After his MBA, he joined media conglomerate Bertelsmann, where he held various operational and corporate development roles in New York, Beijing, and Madrid. Arnaud holds a Master of Science from Ecole Polytechnique in France and an MBA from Harvard Business School in the United States.
Michel-Alain Proch, since January 2021, has been serving Publicis Groupe as Chief Financial Officer and member of the Management Board. He was formerly Chief Financial Officer of Ingenico from February 2019 until its acquisition by Worldline in November 2020. He then served as Advisor to the CEO in the merger of the two companies until 2021. Previously, he was Senior EVP & Group Chief Digital Officer at Atos after having led its group operations in North America from 2015 to 2017. As EVP and Group Chief Financial Officer of Atos from 2007 to 2015, he structured the finance department and led several major M&A operations. He also successfully co-led the IPO of Worldline and served as Board Member of Worldline until 2016. Michel-Alain Proch has also previously held senior executive roles at Hermès in France and the United States for 8 years. He started his career as a consultant at Deloitte & Touche in France and the UK. Michel-Alain Proch holds a master’s degree in finance from Toulouse Business School. Since March 2020, Michel-Alain Proch has been Board VP of Maisons du Monde, Chairman of its audit committee and member of its compensation committee. In February 2024, Michel-Alain Proch will be appointed as the new CFO of the London Stock Exchange Group.
Bénédicte de Raphélis Soissan is one of the Founders and General Partners of Emblem, a Venture Capital firm investing a €75m fund into French and Nordic seed-stage startups. Before this, Bénédicte was the Founder of Clustree, a French technology company created in 2014, that developed one of the world’s most sophisticated skills engines and ontology, using machine learning and bias-free algorithms, to help leading organizations such as Carrefour, SNCF and Sanofi match their employees’ skills with specific job positions. Clustree was acquired in 2020 by Nasdaq-listed Cornerstone OnDemand, the global leader in Corporate Learning software solutions. Bénédicte is also one of the most active French business angels and a former Venture Partner at Northzone, a leading Scandinavian Venture Capital firm (iZettle, Klarna, Personio, Spotify). Bénédicte holds a master’s degree in managerial economics from Université Paul Cézanne Aix-Marseille III and a master’s degree in applied mathematics from Université Panthéon Sorbonne Paris I.
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