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Dirk Van den Berghe is no longer an independent director at Colruyt Group. The former CEO of Delhaize and Walmart did not have his mandate renewed after two years.
High expectations
When Van den Berghe was elected as an independent director at Colruyt Group in September 2021, the news raised high expectations. Van den Berghe was even briefly tipped as a possible successor to CEO Jef Colruyt, as he has had a rich international career: after a stint as CEO of Delhaize, he stepped down in 2014 to become CEO of Walmart Canada and later Walmart Asia. He also held board positions at online players Flipkart and JD.com, Alibaba’s big rival.
Van den Berghe’s term at Colruyt Group was briefer than expected though: his mandate expires after two years and it will not be renewed, Colruyt Group confirmed in the the report of its general meeting. Rather, Rudi Peeters is appointed as new independent director.
Van den Berghe elaborated on the reasons behind the move: “Since the beginning of August, I am Chairman of the Board at Takko, a German fashion chain with a turnover of 1.3 billion euros, operating in seventeen countries including Belgium. On top of my mandates at The Very Group, GoTo and my work at Flipkart, this takes up a lot of my time”, he told RetailDetail.
