BRUSSELS – Koninklijke Ahold N.V. and Delhaize Group have established an executive committee to oversee the company that will result from their planned merger.

Ahold Delhaize, the supermarket operator that will be created by the merger, will be one of the five-largest U.S. food retailers by market share. Executives at the companies expect the merger to be finalized in mid-2016.

The executive committee will be comprised of members of a management board announced in June, along with four additional members this month.

The additional members are:
• Marc Croonen, chief sustainability, transformation and communications officer.
• Hanneke Faber, chief e-commerce and innovation officer.
• Jan Ernst de Groot, chief legal officer.
• Abbe Luersman, chief human resources officer.

The role of the executive committee will be to “help shape and drive the company’s ambitions as a responsible and innovative retailer,” the companies said in a statement.

The positions to be held by Croonen and Faber are newly created and will be overseen by a sustainability and innovation committee.

The management board consists of Dick Boer, chief executive officer and chairman of the management board; Frans Muller, deputy CEO and chief integration officer; Jeff Carr, chief financial officer; Pierre Bouchut, chief operating officer for Europe; Kevin Holt, COO for the United States; and James McCann, COO, United States.

The management board will be responsible for the overall management and decision making of the new company and will have fiduciary responsibility toward the supervisory board and shareholders. The future executive committee will be charged with the day-to-day management of the company.

“With a strong and balanced leadership team with representation from both companies, [the executive committee] exhibits the right combination of functional capabilities and retail experience to steer a company that will greatly expand its reach to deliver even more for the customers and communities it serves,” the companies said. “The team will be well positioned to drive and support integration, while managing the businesses for continued customer service and commercial success.”

The appointment of the future management board members and other important elements of the merger are subject to shareholder approval and regulatory clearance as well as other customary conditions, according to the companies.