Blue Square Israel Ltd. (NYSE: BSI; TASE: BSI) president and CEO Zeev Kalimi has resigned only ten weeks after taking up his post. Both Kalimi and Blue Square chairman David Wiessman declined to disclose the reasons for the resignation.
Blue Square's board appointed VP of Trade Uri Falach as acting CEO
Sources at Blue Square's parent company, Alon Israel Oil Company Ltd., said the reasons were "personal" and unrelated to the supermarket chain or how it was managed.
However, sources close to Kalimi said that the reasons for the resignation go back to his appointment. One source said that the decision to launch the "Mega Ba'Ir" brand was taken without consulting Kalimi even though he had already signed a job contract. Another source said that Kalimi had no managerial independence, despite prior promises to that effect.
Blue Square fell 2.7% on the TASE today and fell 5.7% in early trading on the NYSE. The company has a market cap of $495 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 17, 2007
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