GUILLAUME TEXIER APPOINTED TO SUCCEED PATRICK BERARD AS CEO OF REXEL AS OF SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

 

 

GUILLAUME TEXIER APPOINTED TO SUCCEED PATRICK BERARD
AS CEO OF REXEL AS OF SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

 

Rexel announces that Patrick Berard will step down as Chief Executive Officer on September 1, 2021. He will be succeeded on that date by Guillaume Texier, who joins the company after holding several senior management positions at Saint-Gobain.

Mr. Texier was selected after an extensive search managed by the Board of Directors’ Nomination Committee, supported by a leading search firm and was unanimously viewed as the standout candidate. Mr. Berard has agreed to stay on until March 1, 2022 to work alongside Mr. Texier and ensure a smooth handover in the implementation of Rexel’s strategic roadmap presented in February 2021.

Mr. Texier will bring to Rexel his vast international management experience and deep understanding of B-to-B distribution acquired over more than 15 years in senior positions at Saint-Gobain, including running two major North American business units. In his latest position, he was Senior Vice-President, CEO Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa Region. Prior to that, he was Group CFO from 2016 to 2018. 

Mr. Berard, who joined Rexel in 2003, has been CEO of the Group since 2016.  Under his leadership, the Group has undergone a profound transformation, evolving from a distributor of electrical products to a multichannel, data-driven provider of customized services and solutions for professionals in the rapidly-changing energy world.

Mr. Berard was instrumental in stepping up the Group’s digitalization, repositioning it to benefit from supportive trends in energy efficiency and strengthening relations with clients and suppliers, enabling the Group to outperform the structurally-growing electrical distribution market.

Ian Meakins, Chairman of Rexel’s Board of Directors, declared: “On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to express our sincere thanks to Patrick Berard for his enormous contribution to Rexel. He played a critical role in turning around Rexel and returning it to top- and bottom-line growth. He has left his mark on the company and has set it on a profitable growth path that, I am sure, will continue under Guillaume Texier. Guillaume’s track record in geographies that are critical to Rexel, his proven ability to deliver strategies that accelerate adoption of digital platforms and deliver growth and his leadership and values make him a natural successor. We are fortunate that the opportunity of recruiting him came up just as Patrick was nearing retirement age. I am delighted to welcome him to Rexel and also very pleased that Patrick has agreed to work with Guillaume and share his deep knowledge of the industry and the company. This will enable a smooth transition and ensure that we will not lose any momentum toward achieving what we committed to at the recent Strategic Update.”