Pittsburgh, Pa., USA - April 12, 2013, Pittsburgh, Pa., USA - Bernardo Vieira Hees will become chief executive officer of H.J. Heinz Company upon completion of the acquisition of Heinz by an investment consortium comprised of Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital.
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Mr. Hees has served on the board of Burger King for the last two and a half years and is its Chief Executive Officer. He has also been a Partner at 3G Capital, he served as Chief Executive Officer of ALL from January and serves as a member of its board of directors. He joined ALL in 1998 as a logistics analyst, subsequently holding various positions, including operational planning manager, chief financial officer and commercial officer, and, in 2004, held the position of Director-Superintendent.
Mr. Hees holds a degree in Economics from the Pontificia Universidade Católica (Rio de Janeiro), an MBA from the University of Warwick, England, and, in 2005, he concluded an Owner/President Management course at Harvard Business School.
Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital also announced that Heinz's current CEO William R. Johnson will remain as Chairman, President and CEO of Heinz until the transaction is complete and he is expected to stay with the company in a new role.
Mr. Johnson joined Heinz in 1982 as General Manager - New Businesses for Heinz USA. In 1984, he was promoted to Vice President - Marketing for Ketchup, Foodservice and Sauces. He was later named President and CEO of Heinz Pet Products and assumed leadership of Star-Kist Foods; those businesses were spun off and merged with Del Monte Foods.
Mr. Johnson was after that named Senior Vice President of Heinz and joined the company's Board of Directors. He became President and Chief Operating Officer of Heinz in 1996, and assumed the position of President and CEO in 1998, and was named Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer in 2000. He received the Marco Polo Award, the highest honor by the Chinese government on foreign business leaders, for Heinz's support of the development of the Chinese food industry. ■