Stephan DuCharme has announced his departure as Chairman from the Board of Directors of Dia Group
Benjamin J. Babcock, external proprietary director, will become Chairman of the Board of Directors.
This departure coincides with the company’s turning point towards a new stage of growth consolidation and takes place one year after the appointment of Martín Tolcachir, Group CEO
As a reference shareholder of Dia Group, LetterOne, has reaffirmed its support for the continued strategy of creating value for all the company’s stakeholders over the years and underlines the construction of a relevant player in the local food distribution markets where Dia operates
September 22, 2023, Las Rozas de Madrid. Stephan DuCharme, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Dia Group, announced today his resignation from the company following the termination of his relationship with LetterOne as Managing Partner of L1Retail
The Board of Directors has elected Benjamin J. Babcock, who was appointed as Proprietary Director by co-option in May 2023, as Chairman. Mr. Babcock is Managing Director of Corporate Finance at LetterOne.
“I am delighted to support Dia as Chairman in this period when LetterOne is actively looking for a new proprietary representative,” declares Benjamin B. Babcock. “I would like to thank Stephan DuCharme on behalf of Dia’s Board of Directors, and LetterOne for his important work over the years highlighting his valuable contribution to the Group’s transformation and consolidation towards business growth.”
The new Chairman added: “I would like to underline LetterOne’s continued commitment to Dia Group value creation strategy for all of the company’s stakeholders over the years, and to building a relevant player in proximity food distribution in the markets in which Dia operates. The strategy is showing results and we are confident that they will continue to do so in the future“.
Stephan DuCharme joined Dia Group in 2019 when LetterOne became the company’s main shareholder, at which time he assumed the role of Non-Executive Chairman and later became Executive Chairman. After these 5 years at the helm of Dia Group, he has led the profound strategic and cultural transformation that the organization has undergone. DuCharme became Chairman of the Board of Directors in September 2022 with the promotion of Martín Tolcachir as CEO of Dia Group.
As Stephan DuCharme says, “We have implemented the roadmap of our strategy, with patience and hard work. We have focused on offering a differentiated value proposition vis-à-vis our competitors, a new store concept, revising our assortment and accelerating the development of our own brand“. He also emphasizes that “we have simplified Dia’s portfolio, which will allow us to focus our efforts on the strengths of the business with the medium-term objective of being a relevant player in any of the markets in which Dia operates“. Thus, the recent agreement with Auchan for the sale of the operation in Portugal, the sale of Clarel and the simplification of the network in Spain have been strategic decisions that follow this roadmap.
“These results would not have been possible without the commitment and hard work of our employees, management team, franchisees, suppliers and other partners on the Dia Group journey. I would also like to thank our financial and commercial partners for their support of the company over the past 5 years.”
Martín Tolcachir says that “we can proudly state that after a phase of redirection and acceleration towards growth, we have moved on to a phase of business consolidation. This would not have been possible without Stephan’s work. His leadership in Dia Group has allowed us to drive our purpose and redirect our business“. He adds, “Our commitment is to proximity and our strategy is clear. With Ben’s support as Chairman, we will continue with our roadmap, which is bearing results“.
He concludes that “the appointment of Benjamin J. Babcock as Chairman reflects the continued commitment of the core shareholders and the continuity of the strategy for the next phase of the Dia Group “.
