PPR plays re-shuffle board

The French luxury goods giant, Pinault Printemps Redoute (PPR), has announced last week that the founder's son, Francois-Henri Pinault, will be taking over as group chief executive from Serge Weinberg. The announcement was made following a board meeting. PPR added that the group would be switching to a single board structure, as opposed to the two-tier board of directors that it currently has.

Pinault will take over from Weinberg on 21 March. He is presently chairman of the Artemis holding company, which has a 42% stake in PPR. Weinberg will set up an investment board, which will be supported by Artemis. PPR became the world's third-largest luxury retail group when it acquired a majority stake in the Italian luxury goods company Gucci Group in September 2001.