Senior executive transitions at George Weston Ltd., Loblaw

Food producer George Weston Limited announced Wednesday it had appointed Richard Dufresne to president.

Dufresne is currently CFO at both George Weston Limited and Loblaw. Over the coming months he will transition out of the CFO role at Loblaw. As part of the transition, Darren Myers will join Loblaw Sept. 1 as executive vice-president, finance, reporting to Dufresne. Myers will be appointed CFO at Loblaw Jan. 1, 2018.

Dufresne joined George Weston Limited in 2012 -- a day after he resigned as the top finance executive at rival Metro. He has held parallel responsibilities as CFO at both Loblaw and George Weston Limited since 2014.

"Richard has made an enormous contribution in his time as CFO of both Loblaw and George Weston, including his role in the creation of Choice Properties REIT, the acquisition of Shoppers Drug Mart, and the subsequent realization of synergies," said Galen G.Weston, CEO of George Weston Limited, in a release. "He has been a thoughtful and decisive contributor to the management board and I look forward to continuing to work closely with him in his new role as president and CFO, George Weston Limited."

Prior to joining Metro, Dufresne worked in investment banking, focused on corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions. He played a key role in a series of major transactions in the retail sector, notably the acquisition of A&P Canada by Metro in 2005.

Myers joins Loblaw from Celestica where he was most recently executive vice-president and CFO. He has also held senior level positions with Bell Canada and PricewaterhouseCoopers.