Holcim's board of directors will propose to the annual general meeting on 29 April 2014 the election of Wolfgang Reitzle as the company's new chairman, to succeed Rolf Soiron.

Mr Soiron has been the chairman for the past 11 years and a member of the board of directors for 20 years.

The board of directors of Holcim Ltd will also nominate Jürg Oleas for election as a new board member at the April AGM. Jürg Oleas (56) is the CEO of GEA Group AG, a Dusseldorf-based mechanical engineering company listed on Germany's MDAX stock index.

The following candidates will be proposed to the shareholders as members of the board of directors: Wolfgang Reitzle, Alexander Gut, Beat Hess, Adrian Loader, Jürg Oleas, Thomas Schmidheiny, Hanne Birgitte Breinbjerg Sørensen, Dieter Spälti and Anne Wade.

Current Board members Erich Hunziker and Andreas von Planta are no longer available for re-election.

"The Board of Directors would like to thank Rolf Soiron for his many years of service to the Group as well as all his efforts, which were instrumental to Holcim's success. The Board of Directors also thanks Erich Hunziker and Andreas von Planta for their many contributions to the Group," Holcim said in a statement.

The board of directors will also be presenting shareholders with the following four candidates for membership of the Nomination & Compensation Committee: Adrian Loader, Wolfgang Reitzle, Thomas Schmidheiny and Hanne Birgitte Breinbjerg Sørensen.