Bronfman-Alon Ltd., which controls Blue Square Israel (NYSE: BSI; TASE: BSI), has announced that it will recommend to the Blue Square board of directors that Gil Unger be appointed as CEO. Unger is CEO of IKEA Israel and was CEO of Super-Pharm for eight years.
Unger will replace Yoram Dar, who has worked for Blue Square for 27 years, and was appointed CEO in 1999 in place of Yacov Gelbard. Dar’s contract runs through the end of 2004, and he will draw his salary until that time.
The company announcement stated that Dar’s employment had ended on January 31. When ownership of Blue Square changed hands in June 2003, Dar’s contract was revised to stipulate that the parties would negotiate a new contract no later than December 31, 2004. The announcement further stated, “No agreement has been reached with Dar on his employment terms because of substantial financial differences, and it was therefore decided that he would leave his position as CEO.’
Blue Square, Israel’s second largest retail chain, finished January-September 2003 with NIS 3.9 billion in sales, a 6.5% decline, compared with the corresponding period in 2002.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on February 10, 2004