Majid Al Futtaim Group appoints new CEO

Anders Moberg, takes over from Francois de Montaudouin who leaves the company on 5 July 2007. He has worked for the Group as Chief Executive Officer for the past three years.

Mr. Moberg, 57, is a native of Sweden. Since 1974 he has lived and worked internationally. He has had a distinguished career in retail; having worked with both privately owned and publicly listed companies.

He has most recently served as the President and CEO of Dutch-based Royal Ahold, the world's fourth largest food retailer. Ahold is an international group of quality supermarkets and foodservice operators based in the United States and Europe.

Before joining Ahold, Mr. Moberg served for almost four years (1999-2002) as a Division President International at the Home Depot, the world's largest home improvement retailer, based in the United States.

During the previous 13 years (1986-1999), he was President and CEO of IKEA, the privately owned Swedish-based home furnishing retailer. During this time, he guided the company through an eight-fold growth in sales. IKEA now has 253 outlets in 36 countries.

The President of Majid Al Futtaim Group, Mr. Majid Al Futtaim says: "We respect François de Montaudouin's decision to leave the company. He has overseen a rapid development of our Group both in terms of revenue and profits. Six thousand new jobs have been created, and the Group has extended its activities to several new countries in the Middle East - North Africa (MENA) region. We look forward to welcoming Anders Moberg as the company's new CEO, we have no doubt that he will make an important contribution to the Group".

The Chairman of Majid Al Futtaim Group, Mr. Pehr G Gyllenhammar, states:

"Majid Al Futtaim Group is experiencing high growth and seeing promising opportunities for continued rapid development. We are also establishing operations in new markets in the MENA region. Mr. Anders Moberg should be very well suited to lead the Group through this next phase."

The business of Majid Al Futtaim was formed in 1992. The Group has changed the face of shopping, entertainment and leisure in the Middle East. With around 12,000 employees (comprising over 44 different nationalities) the Group is one of the most significant employers in the MENA region.