Merck appoints Wolfgang Büchele as Supervisory Board Chairman

The newly appointed Supervisory Board of Merck has elected at its inaugural meeting Wolfgang Büchele as the Chairman of this corporate governance body. Before that, the Annual General Meeting had elected the eight shareholder representatives.

The eight employee representative members of the Supervisory Board had already been elected in April. The term of office of the previous Supervisory Board members expired upon conclusion of the Annual General Meeting. The new term of office runs until the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting that will resolve on the approval of the actions of the Executive Board for fiscal 2018.

At today's Annual General Meeting, the shareholders also approved the increase of €0.20 in the dividend to €1.90, which corresponds to a total dividend payment of approximately €413 million and a payout ratio of around 31%. Shareholders also voted in favour of the proposed 2:1 share split.