CEO of Bombardier is pushed out WSJ
Bombardier’s Pierre Beaudoin to Surrender Executive Role After Shareholder Revolt
Beleaguered transportation company says founder’s grandson will stay on as nonexecutive chairman
Jacquie McNishUpdated May 11, 2017 9:43 a.m. ET
Pierre Beaudoin has agreed to resign as executive chairman of Bombardier Inc. but will remain as nonexecutive chairman. Photo: Reuters
By
Jacquie McNish
TORONTO—
Bombardier Inc.
BDRBF 8.67% on Thursday said Pierre Beaudoin has agreed to step down from his executive role amid an investor revolt, but that he will remain chairman of the beleaguered transportation company.
Mr. Beaudoin, 54 years old, will resign as executive chairman effective June 30, following
opposition to his re-election by some of Canada’s largest funds, but he will remain as nonexecutive chairman. A spokesman for the company said it won’t name a new executive chairman.
Mr. Beaudoin is the grandson of the company’s founder, and his family has voting control of Bombardier through a class of supervoting shares. Some of Canada’s biggest pension funds have opposed his reelection in a
push for more independenceon the board of a transportation company that is struggling with product delays and other setbacks.
The opposition to his reappointment followed a controversial move last month to significantly improve the compensation of several Bombardier officials, including Mr. Beaudoin. The raises, which were
rolled back, came after the company received about $1 billion in financing from the Quebec and federal governments.
Mr. Beaudoin said in a statement that he continues to support the company’s CEO, Alain Bellemare. Bombardier “is firmly on the right path, with a very strong leadership team now in place to execute its turnaround plan,” he said.
Mr. Beaudoin wasn’t expected to lose the vote for his re-election at a shareholder meeting in Montreal Thursday because of his family’s voting control. In a statement to The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, the company said: “the vast majority of our shareowners are supportive of the company’s position and the turnaround plan we are executing. Based on frequent conversations with our largest shareholders we anticipate that this strong support will be seen in the results announced on Thursday.”
Bombardier is under pressure to improve sales of its CSeries commercial jet program, which has been plagued by delays, equipment problems and sales disappointments since plans for the project were unveiled more than a decade ago. On an earnings call Thursday morning, Mr. Bellemare said Bombardier delivered one CSeries plane in the first quarter and expects another two deliveries in the coming year.
Bombardier hasn’t received any new orders for the CSeries so far this year, a setback Mr. Bellemare attributed to a “soft” commercial airplane market and lingering concerns about jet engine deliveries from Pratt & Whitney, a unit of
United Technologies Corp.
Bombardier cut its delivery guidance for the CSeries aircraft by more than half last year, citing engine delivery delays from Pratt & Whitney.
Although the engine still requires some “upgrades,” Mr. Bellemare said that “by and large, we have a very reliable engine on the CSeries.”
Write to Jacquie McNish at
Jacquie.McNish@wsj.com