VNU Appoints Ruijter as Interim CEO

VNU has held its 2006 Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Amsterdam, and announced the appointment of new Supervisory Board members and an interim CEO, Rob Ruijter. Ruijter, who also continues with his current responsibilities as the group's CFO, takes the CEO role from Rob van den Bergh, who stepped down from the Board.

As expected, Mr. A.G. Jacobs stepped down as chairman of the Supervisory Board, and Vice Chairman Mr. F.L.V. Meysman and four others also stepped down. The four are J.L. Brentjens, R. Dahan, P.A.F.W. Elverding and A. van Rossum.

G.S. Hobbs remains on the Board and is joined by one member each from consortium members AlpInvest Partners N.V. and Hellman & Friedman LLC, and two each from The Blackstone Group L.P., The Carlyle Group, Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts & Co., L.P. and Thomas H. Lee Partners; in addition to independent member Mr. D.G. Eustace, following the Dutch Corporate Governance Code. Changes are effective immediately.

Ruijter will serve as interim CEO while the company continues its search for a permanent replacement. Ruijter joined VNU as a member of the Executive Board in December 2004, and was appointed CFO on January 1, 2005. Previously, he worked as CFO at KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Baan Company and Philips Lighting.

Other details of the meeting can be found at www.vnu.com/cg/shareholdersMeeting .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.