March 5, 2015
Dear Colleagues,
Many of you will have seen our announcement of March 4, 2015, that Pete Leemputte, our Chief Financial Officer, has decided to leave Mead Johnson in the near future for personal reasons. You will understand that it was necessary for us to disclose this externally prior to any formal internal announcement. Effective March 13, 2015, Pete will hand over his responsibilities to Charles Urbain, who will serve as the company’s interim Chief Financial Officer until a permanent replacement is appointed.
Pete has been a significant contributor to the success of our company over the past seven years. He was instrumental in taking us through our initial public offering and in helping establish ourselves as a stand-alone, successful, public company. Pete helped create many of the corporate support functions needed following our split from Bristol Myers-Squibb and leaves behind a strong team of Finance and Information Management professionals. After nearly 37 years of active professional life, Pete intends to slow down and spend more time on himself and with his family. He leaves Mead Johnson at a time when the company is in excellent financial condition.
I would like to thank Pete for his service to Mead Johnson and wish him well as he transitions into the next phase of his life.
Charles will assume the role as interim Chief Financial Officer on March 13, 2015. As many of you will already know, he has a long history and broad experience with Mead Johnson and previously served as our CFO, when we were still a division of Bristol-Myers Squibb. Charles began his career as an Auditor with Price Waterhouse and held various positions in Treasury, Tax and Finance with Schlumberger, before joining Bristol Myers-Squibb 28 years ago. After progressing through positions of increasing seniority within Finance, he went on to serve as General Manager of the Philippines. More recently, he has led each of our operating regions – and currently holds the position of Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer, responsible for several key administrative functions including Corporate Communications, Human Resources and External Business Development.
Effective March 13, the following reporting changes will occur. Stan Burhans, Tom De Weerdt, Mike Cascella, Richard Proszowski, Kathy MacDonald, Lee Wise, Jasmine Blaise, Cullen Hanlon and Peggy Hardeck (interim VP Internal Audit) will report to Charles. Ian Ormesher, our SVP Human Resources, will report directly to me, as will Audrae Erickson, VP External and Public Affairs, on an interim basis.
Please join me in wishing Pete all the best and giving Charles your full support.
Kasper Jakobsen
President and CEO