ST. PAUL, Minn. — Ecolab announced that the directors designated by stockholder Henkel AG & Co. KGaA have decided to resign from Ecolab’s board.
In a letter to Ecolab, Henkel indicated that while it intends to sell part or all of its investment in Ecolab, uncertainty regarding when or how that sale would take place made it prudent for Henkel to forgo representation on Ecolab’s board at this time.
Henkel has indicated in its public filings that no final decision has been taken at this time as to the size, timing and method of any such divestiture that would be carried out in accordance with a stockholder’s agreement between Ecolab and Henkel.
The Henkel designated directors who are resigning are Messrs. Stefan Hamelmann, Kasper Rorsted and Hans Van Bylen. Under terms of the stockholder’s agreement with Ecolab, Henkel is permitted board representation proportional to its shareholdings. In February 2008 Henkel reported it owned 29.4 percent of Ecolab shares.
“These resignations are an understandable step in Henkel’s effort to effect best practices in corporate governance,” said Douglas M. Baker Jr., Ecolab’s chairman, president and CEO. “It ensures the Henkel representatives will not have access to confidential Ecolab information as Henkel assesses a potential sale of Ecolab shares.”