Jean-Baptiste Chasseloup de Chatillon, the CFO credited with a turnaround at PSA, takes his executive talent to French drug-maker Sanofi.
Until recently the veteran automotive executive served as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President for PSA Group, maker of Peugeot, Citroën and other well-known brands. He will become Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at French multinational pharmaceutical firm Sanofi on October 1. To ease the transition, Chasseloup de Chatillon will join the company on September 1, while current CFO Jérôme Contamine will remain until his retirement on September 30. Contamine has served as Sanofi’s CFO for more than nine years.
Sanofi’s selection of Chasseloup de Chatillon was based on the role he played in turning PSA around, and for his international experience. “Jean-Baptiste is an experienced CFO who has been part of the impressive turnaround of PSA Group,” said Sanofi Chief Executive Olivier Brandicourt. “His track record of successfully driving finance across different businesses and geographies throughout his career will be of great value to lead our very experienced team around the world.”
PSA’s financial troubles drove it nearly to the brink of bankruptcy in 2012, but the company rebounded, posting a series of record earnings results over the past two years. While at PSA, Chasseloup de Chatillon held various management positions in finance in Spain, the U.K. and Belgium. He was also Chairman of the Board of Banque PSA Finance, and a member of the Peugeot S.A. Managing Board, to which he was appointed in 2012.
Just as Chasseloup de Chatillon joined PSA at a time when the company needed a strong financial executive, his transition to Sanofi comes “at a time of blockbuster deals within the global healthcare industry,” Reuters reports. Looking to expand its pipeline and rare disease presence, Sanofi has made two major takeover deals so far this year, buying haemophilia specialist Bioverativ for $11.6 billion and Ablynx, which is developing an experimental drug for a rare blood disorder, for $4.5 billion. Sanofi needs to become more competitive in diabetes, following a U.S. diabetes sales decline of over 22% last year, but expects growth from the launch of two new immunology drugs.
