LOUISVILLE, Ky. & SHANGHAI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM) today announced the expected composition
of the Board of Directors of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (“Yum China”).
The nine new directors announced today, seven of whom are independent,
are expected to serve on the Yum China Board of Directors following the
completion of Yum China’s spin-off from Yum! Brands, which is expected
to occur after the close of business on October 31, 2016.
As previously announced, Dr. Fred Hu, chairman and founder of Primavera
Capital Group, a China-based global investment firm that will make a
strategic investment in Yum China, will serve as non-executive chairman
of the Yum China Board once the distribution and the Primavera
investment are complete. In addition to Dr. Hu, the Board will include:
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Micky Pant, chief executive officer of Yum China.
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Peter A. Bassi, former chairman and president of Yum!
Restaurants International and current lead director for BJ’s
Restaurant and Potbelly Sandwich Works.
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Christian L. Campbell, owner of Christian L. Campbell
Consulting LLC and former senior vice president, general counsel,
secretary and chief franchise policy officer of Yum! Brands.
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Ed Chan Yiu-Cheong, vice chairman of Charoen Pokphand Group
Company Limited.
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Edouard Ettedgui, non-executive chairman of Alliance Française,
Hong Kong and non-executive director of Mandarin Oriental
International Limited.
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Louis T. Hsieh, director and senior advisor to the chief
executive officer, and former chief financial officer and president of
New Oriental Education & Technology Group.
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Jonathan S. Linen, director for Yum! Brands and Modern Bank
N.A., former adviser to the chairman of American Express Company, and
former vice chairman of American Express Company.
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Zili Shao, co-chairman of King & Wood Mallesons - China.
Yum China also expects to name one additional independent board member
in connection with the spin-off.
“I am honored to lead the Yum China Board alongside such experienced and
talented individuals,” said Dr. Hu. “My fellow directors bring proven
track records of success in the food, service, finance, legal and other
industries in China. We all also understand this market well, and I look
forward to working collaboratively to build a strong business and create
sustained value for Yum China shareholders.”
Mr. Pant said, “I am confident that this Board has the right mix of
experience and knowledge of our industry and the evolving consumer
trends in China to drive future success for Yum China. I am excited to
have the opportunity to work with my highly-qualified colleagues on the
Board as we execute on our strategic plans to drive growth across our
brands.”
Greg Creed, chief executive officer of Yum! Brands, said, “We’re pleased
to have announced the composition of the Yum China Board of Directors as
we near the completion of the separation. We are confident that these
business leaders will offer the market insights and strategic vision
required to enable Yum China to reach its full potential.”
About the Yum China Board of Directors
Peter A. Bassi served as chairman of Yum! Restaurants
International from 2003 to 2005 and its president from 1997 to 2003.
Prior to that position, Mr. Bassi spent 25 years in a wide range of
financial and general management positions at PepsiCo, Inc., Pepsi-Cola
International, Pizza Hut (U.S. and International), Frito-Lay and Taco
Bell. Mr. Bassi currently serves as lead director and chair of the
nominating and governance committee for each of BJ’s Restaurant and
Potbelly Sandwich Works. He has been a member of each board of directors
since 2004 and 2009, respectively. In addition, Mr. Bassi serves on the
Value Optimization Board for the private equity firm Mekong Capital,
based in Vietnam. Mr. Bassi served on the board of The Pep Boys – Manny,
Moe & Jack from 2002 to 2009, and served on the board of Amrest Holdings
(Poland) from 2012 to 2015.
Christian L. Campbell is currently owner of Christian L. Campbell
Consulting LLC, specializing in global corporate governance and
compliance. Mr. Campbell previously served as senior vice president,
general counsel and secretary of Yum! Brands from its formation in 1997
until his retirement in February 2016. In 2001, Mr. Campbell’s role was
expanded to include chief franchise policy officer. In these positions,
Mr. Campbell oversaw all legal matters at Yum! Brands and was
responsible for the oversight of Yum! Brands purchasing as a director of
YUM’s purchasing cooperative with its franchisees. Prior to joining Yum!
Brands, Mr. Campbell was a senior vice president and general counsel at
Owens Corning, a leading global producer of fiberglass insulation and
composite building materials. Prior to Owens Corning, he was vice
president and general counsel for Nalco Chemical Company. In addition,
Mr. Campbell was a founding director of Restaurant Supply Chain
Solutions, Inc. (“RSCS”), a purchasing cooperative for Yum! Brands’ U.S.
franchising partners, and he served on RSCS’s Board of Directors from
its formation in 2001 until 2015.
Ed Chan Yiu-Cheong is currently a vice chairman of Charoen
Pokphand Group Company Limited and has been an executive director and
vice chairman of CP Lotus Corporation since April 2012. Mr. Chan was
regional director of North Asia of the Dairy Farm Group and a director
of Dairy Farm Management Services Limited from November 2001 to November
2006. Mr. Chan was the president and chief executive officer of Walmart
China from November 2006 to October 2011. Mr. Chan is also a
non-executive director of Treasury Wine Estates Limited, a company
listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and an independent
non-executive director of Link Real Estate Investment Trust, which is
listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited.
Edouard Ettedgui currently serves as the non-executive chairman
of Alliance Française, Hong Kong. Mr. Ettedgui also currently serves as
a non-executive director of Mandarin Oriental International Limited, the
company for which he was the group chief executive from 1998 to 2016.
Prior to his time at Mandarin Oriental International, Mr. Ettedgui was
the chief financial officer for Dairy Farm International Holdings, and
he served in various roles for British American Tobacco, including
business development director, group finance controller and group head
of finance. Mr. Ettedgui has also held senior finance positions in seven
countries at Philips International.
Louis T. Hsieh currently serves as a senior adviser to the chief
executive officer and as a director of New Oriental Education &
Technology Group. Prior to his current role, Mr. Hsieh served as that
company’s chief financial officer from 2005 to 2015 and president from
2008 to 2016. In addition, Mr. Hsieh serves as an independent director,
member of the corporate governance committee and chairman of the audit
committee for JD.com, Inc., and independent director and chairman of the
audit committee for Nord Anglia Education, Inc. Previously, Mr. Hsieh
also served as an independent director, member of the corporate
governance committee and chairman of the audit committee for Perfect
World Co., Ltd. and China Digital TV Holding Co., Ltd.
Fred Hu is chairman and founder of Primavera Capital Group,
a China-based global investment firm (“Primavera”). Dr. Hu has served as
chairman of Primavera since its inception in 2010. Prior to Primavera,
Dr. Hu served in various roles at Goldman Sachs from 1997 to 2010,
including serving as chairman of Greater China at Goldman Sachs Group,
Inc. From 1991 to 1996, Dr. Hu served as an economist at the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington D.C., where he engaged
in macroeconomic research, policy consultations and technical assistance
for member country governments including China. Dr. Hu also served as
director of the National Center for Economic Research and professor at
Tsinghua University. He is the author of several books and of numerous
other publications in the areas of economics and finance and on China
and Asian economies. Dr. Hu has advised the Chinese government on
financial and pension reform, state-owned enterprise (SOE)
restructuring, and macroeconomic policies. Dr. Hu is a trustee of China
Medical Board and the co-chair of the Nature Conservatory’s Asia Pacific
Council.
Jonathan S. Linen is a member of the board of directors of Yum!
Brands, a position he has held since 2005, and of Modern Bank, N.A. Mr.
Linen served as advisor to the chairman of American Express Company from
January 2006 to August 2016. Prior to his role as advisor to the
chairman, Mr. Linen served as the vice chairman of American Express
Company since August 1993. Mr. Linen served on the board of directors of
The Intercontinental Hotels Group from 2005 to 2015. In addition, Mr.
Linen is a former director of Bausch & Lomb.
Micky Pant is expected to serve as the chief executive officer of
Yum China. Mr. Pant has served as chief executive officer of Yum!
Restaurants China since August 2015. Over the past decade, Mr. Pant has
held a number of leadership positions at Yum! Brands, including chief
executive officer of the KFC Division, chief executive officer of Yum!
Restaurants International and president of Global Branding for Yum!
Brands and president of Taco Bell International. Before joining Yum!
Brands, Mr. Pant built a foundation in marketing and international
business with Unilever and worked at PepsiCo, Inc. and Reebok
International Ltd. Since December 2014, Mr. Pant has served as an
independent director on the board of Pinnacle Foods, Inc., where he also
serves on the audit committee.
Zili Shao has served as co-chairman of King & Wood Mallesons -
China since April 2015. From 2009 to 2015, Mr. Shao held various
positions with JPMorgan Chase & Co., including chairman and chief
executive officer of JPMorgan China, vice chairman of JPMorgan Asia
Pacific and chairman of JPMorgan Chase Bank (China) Company Limited.
Prior to JPMorgan, he was a partner with Linklaters LLP, a global
premium law firm. He held positions as Greater China managing partner
and managing partner of Asia Pacific.
About Yum China Holdings
Yum China Holdings will become a licensee of Yum! Brands in Mainland
China. It will have exclusive rights to KFC, China’s leading
quick-service restaurant concept, Pizza Hut, the leading casual dining
brand, and Taco Bell, which is expanding globally but is not yet in
China. It will also own the Little Sheep and East Dawning concepts
outright. The new company will be well positioned for growth thanks to
its strong competitive position, integration of its brands into Chinese
popular culture and consumers’ daily lives, expanding geographic
footprint in China and existing operational expertise. It will have a
strong capital position, no debt and expects to continue growing its
system sales and profit by adding new restaurants and through growing
same-store sales. Yum China has more than 7,200 restaurants in over
1,100 cities in China and generated over $8 billion in system sales in
2015. The growth of consumption in China is being fueled by a new
generation of younger consumers who are digitally sophisticated and
brand driven. The additional growth of the middle class and urban
population in China is expected to create the world’s largest market for
restaurant brands, with Yum China poised to be the market leader.
About Yum! Brands
Yum! Brands, Inc., based in Louisville, Kentucky, has nearly 43,000
restaurants in almost 140 countries and territories. Yum! Brands is
ranked #218 on the Fortune 500 List with revenues of over $13 billion in
2015 and is one of the Aon Hewitt Top Companies for Leaders in North
America. The Company’s restaurant brands - KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell
- are the global leaders of the chicken, pizza and Mexican-style food
categories. Worldwide, the Yum! Brands system opens over six new
restaurants per day on average, making it a leader in global retail
development.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this communication contain “forward-looking
statements.” Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact
that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These
statements often include words such as “may,” “will,” “estimate,”
“intend,” “seek,” “expect,” “project,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “plan,”
“could,” “target,” “predict,” “likely,” “should,” “forecast,” “outlook,”
“model,” “ongoing” or other similar terminology. Forward-looking
statements are based on our current expectations, estimates, assumptions
or projections concerning future results or events, including, without
limitation, the planned separation of the Yum and Yum China businesses,
the timing of such separation, the completion of the anticipated
investments by Primavera Capital and Ant Financial in connection with
the Yum China separation, the future composition of the Yum China board
of directors, the future earnings and performance as well as capital
structure of Yum or any of its businesses, including the Yum and Yum
China businesses on a standalone basis if the separation is completed.
Forward-looking statements are neither predictions nor guarantees of
future events, circumstances or performance and are inherently subject
to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could
cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated by
those statements. We cannot assure you that any of our expectations,
estimates or projections will be achieved. Factors that could cause
actual results and events to differ materially from our expectations and
forward-looking statements are included in reports filed with the SEC by
Yum from time to time, including those discussed under the heading “Risk
Factors” in our most recently filed reports on Form 10-K and 10-Q, as
well as in the Form 10 filed with the SEC by Yum China. You should not
place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as
of the date hereof. We are not undertaking to update any of these
statements.
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Yum! Brands, Inc.
Virginia Ferguson, 502-874-8200
Source: Yum! Brands, Inc.