Italian businessman Andrea Guerra, seen participating in a TV program in Rome, Italy, on Feb. 28, 2008, will remain as chairman at Eataly.REMO CASILLI/Reuters
Italian businessman Andrea Guerra is relinquishing his executive functions at high-end food retailer Eataly, but will remain as chairman, the company said on Friday.
The change to Mr. Guerra’s position as executive chairman is part of a broader governance review, Eataly said in a statement.
The Corriere della Sera newspaper said Mr. Guerra, who had previously been a decade at the helm of eyewear giant Luxottica Group, would stay on as chairman without executive powers “at least for the whole of 2020.”
Reuters reported on Thursday that Mr. Guerra would step down as executive chairman.
“A five-year path has been completed. … I will rest a little and will then consider new business opportunities,” Mr. Guerra was reported by Corriere della Sera as saying.
Mr. Guerra took on his position at Eataly in October, 2015, a year after a clash with Luxottica founder Leonardo Del Vecchio led to his departure from the maker of Ray Ban and Oakley sunglasses.
Eataly said Nicola Farinetti, one of the three sons of the group’s founder, would stay on as chief executive.
“Andrea gave a decisive contribution to accelerating the development of the company,” founder Oscar Farinetti said in the statement.
Eataly, which sells Italian delicacies from pasta to panettone at stores around the world, added it would announce its results for 2019 in February.
The company has said it expects revenues this year to increase to €690-million ($1-billion) to €720-million euros.
“Eataly does not need to rake up pennies on the market, it is able to finance its growth easily with its cash flow” Mr. Farinetti told Corriere della Sera, without excluding a future listing on the New York stock exchange.
He added the shareholding structure of the group would not change.