Zwolle, 31 March 2010 – Today Wavin, Europe’s leading supplier of plastic pipe systems, publishes the agenda for the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, to be held on 21 April 2010. In this context, the company issues the following statements:

Wavin CEO succession planning
Wavin CEO Philip Houben (60) has announced his intention to step down as per the end of 2010 after more than ten years at the helm of the company. The Supervisory Board has decided to appoint Henk ten Hove (57), currently Executive Vice President, as his successor, subject to the condition that the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders approves his re-appointment as member of the Management Board. He will act as deputy CEO as of the AGM and will take over as chief executive in October.
Paul van den Hoek, Chairman of the Supervisory Board: “Philip has succesfully set his stamp on Wavin since 2000. He transformed the company into the leading European market player it is today, led it to its stocklisting in 2006, and oversaw decisive restructuring action when the economic crisis hit the building industry in more recent times.”

“We are of course sorry to see him go but respect his decision. At the same time, we are pleased to name his colleague Henk ten Hove as his successor. Henk has been with Wavin since 1982 and became a member of the Management Board in 1999. Within the Board he is currently responsible for the supervision of various regions as well as the direction of corporate functions such as, operational excellence and sourcing. He has been very instrumental in the expansion into Central and Eastern Europe. His long-term expertise in this business gives him a broad overview of the various aspects of the management of the company that will continue to be of critical importance for Wavin.”

Philip Houben said: “After ten years, the time has come to hand over the wheel. Wavin is the undisputed market leader in plastic pipe systems in Europe. Our scale, product range and geographic presence are unrivalled. The organisation is lean and mean following recent restructuring and I am certain that under my colleague it will grab the opportunities that undoubtedly lie ahead.”

Reverse stock split
Wavin today also announces that during its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on 21 April a ‘reverse stock split’ proposal will be submitted to the shareholders for approval. The proposal calls for a reverse split of 8 ordinary shares with a nominal value of EUR 0.05 each time into 1 ordinary share with a nominal value of EUR 0.40. The objective of the reverse split is to reduce the number of outstanding shares, which will lead to an increase of the price at which the shares are traded and reduced volatility.

The notice convening the General Meeting (with instructions for participation) including the full agenda and other meeting documents are available on the Wavin website (www.wavin.com) as of today.


De AVA wordt op 21 april te Amsterdam gehouden om 14.00 uur Rosarium vlakbij de RAI.