Ahold chairman to step down

AMSTERDAM — Rene Dahan will step down as Royal Ahold's board chairman in October, the Dutch supermarket operator said Wednesday.

Netherlands-based Ahold — which operates the Stop & Shop, Giant-Landover and Giant-Carlisle chains and the Peapod online grocery service in the United States through its Ahold USA subsidiary — said that Dahan would step down after serving on the company's board since 2004. The company plans to propose at its shareholder meeting the appointment of Jan Hommen as Dahan's successor.

"I have announced my intention to leave the Ahold supervisory board knowing that the company is well-positioned for the future," Dahan said. "I welcome the company's proposal to appoint Jan Hommen as a new supervisory board member and as my future successor."

Hommen was previously vice chairman of the board and served as chairman of the audit committee from 2003 to 2007 and has held management positions at Royal Philips Electronics, TNT N.V. and Reed Elsevier. He is currently CEO of ING Group and plans to step down from that position in October.

"Now that Rene Dahan has announced his intention to resign as chairman, I would like to express my appreciation for his work over the past years," Ahold CEO Dick Boer said. "His experience and wisdom has helped Ahold become the company it is today."