The Board of Directors of Blue Square-Israel announced today that it has appointed Benjamin (Benny) D. Gaon to serve as its Chairman, effective immediately. Gaon replaces Yossi Rosen, who has served as the Company's Chairman since May, 1996, and who will now remain as a member of the Board of Directors.
Commenting on the announcement, Rosen said, ``I am proud of the progress Blue Square has made over the last few years, and I have every confidence in the new management which we installed this quarter. This is a good time for me to decrease my Blue Square activities, and Benny Gaon is the natural choice to take over the Chairmanship. Benny has been an important force within Blue Square for nearly two decades, and I believe that he will lead Blue Square to even greater accomplishments in the new millennium.''
Benny Gaon, a high-profile personality in Israel's financial community, was President and CEO of the Co-Op Blue Square Cooperative Society Ltd. (``the Co-Op'') from 1982-1988, a period of rapid modernization and development for the supermarket chain. In 1996, Gaon was one of the driving forces behind BSI's initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. Since 1998, Mr. Gaon has served as Chairman of the Co-Op, during which time the Company executed a strategic divestment of its unprofitable department store business.
Gaon also serves as Chairman of Delek, Hamashbir Letzarchan, Lanoptics, Elrov, Koor Capital Markets, Gaon AgroIndustries, and B. Gaon Holdings Ltd., a private capital investment firm.
Gaon's public interest positions include Chairman of the Israel-Jordan Chamber of Commerce and President of the Israeli Cancer Association. He is a board member of the Manufacturers Association of Israel, where he also serves as Chairman of the Committee for the Development of Economic Ties with Arab Countries. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the Hebrew University, and the Rabin-Peres Nobel Prize Committee.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on December 27, 1999.