Heineken N.V. nominates Laurence Debroux as Chief Financial Officer and Member of the Executive Board

Heineken N.V. (EURONEXT: HEIA; OTCQX: HEINY) (‘HEINEKEN’) today announced that the Supervisory Board will nominate Laurence Debroux, currently Chief Financial and Administrative Officer and member of the Executive Board (‘EB’) at JC DECAUX SA, as member of the Executive Board and Chief Financial Officer at the company’s Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM) on 23 April 2015.

Subject to shareholder appointment, Mrs. Debroux will succeed Mr. Hooft Graafland on 24 April 2015. Mrs. Debroux is a French national, 45 years of age and has been in her current role since 1 July 2010. Prior to this, Mrs. Debroux spent 14 years with global healthcare company SANOFI in a variety of senior management positions including both the Group CFO and Chief Strategic Officer roles. Mrs. Debroux began her career in banking and has previously lived and worked in the UK and the USA. Mrs. Debroux is also currently an Independent Director of NATIXIS (Member of the Audit Committee and Chair of the Strategic Committee) and of Bpifrance Participations – a French state-owned investment fund (Chair of the Investment Committee).

Mrs. Debroux will formally join HEINEKEN on 1 March 2015 and will work alongside Mr. Hooft Graafland to ensure a smooth and effective transition.

After a successful career of 34 years, the last 13 of which have been as a member of the Executive Board, the Supervisory Board and Mr. Hooft Graafland have mutually agreed that the end of his current mandate as member of the EB will be the logical and natural moment to transition to the next generation of leadership.

Jean-François van Boxmeer, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of HEINEKEN said, “I would like to recognise René’s immense contribution to building the company that HEINEKEN has become today. As a close colleague for nearly 30 years and my Executive Board partner for 13 years, I want to thank René personally for his support and for the value he has added to our business. I am very happy to welcome Laurence to HEINEKEN. I am confident that Laurence will be an outstanding finance leader and business partner. She brings both deep financial expertise and a strong understanding of governance and leadership. Laurence’s unique, broad and external perspective will support our next phase of growth and build on the great platform that René has built.”

Hans Wijers, Chairman of the HEINEKEN N.V. Supervisory Board said, “I am delighted to welcome Laurence to HEINEKEN. We very much look forward to working with her and to benefiting from her considerable experience and skills. On behalf of the Supervisory Board, I want to recognise and thank René for his extraordinary career with, and contribution to HEINEKEN over the last 34 years. He has our sincere thanks.”