Dame Louise Makin to be next Chair Halma appoints Dame Louise Makin as its next Chair. Louise will join the Board today as an independent NED and Chair Designate, joining the Nomination and Remuneration committees, replacing Paul Walker as Chair in July 2021. Paul will step down from the Board after 8yrs in this role. This was previously announced on 23 Sep 2020 – aligned with succession planning and the UK Corporate Governance Code requirement of not beyond 9yrs of tenure. Louise has a career in business as a chief executive and board director, working across multiple sectors. Louise was CEO of BTG (specialist healthcare) for 15yrs, driving strong growth and market cap progression. Louise has experience across multiple boards and is currently a NED of Theramex (pharmaceuticals), Atotech (specialty chemicals), and Intertek (FTSE 100 testing and certification group). Louise will step down from Intertek in June 2021. An orderly handover and a strong appointment We view this announcement as a positive. Firstly, it is a well-managed process – as expected – allowing for an orderly handover ahead of the role starting in July. Secondly, we view this as a strong appointment given Louise’s experience provides a relevant cultural fit, additional Board expertise and ESG focus. We reiterate our positive investment case Halma has a proven business model which should continue to generate revenue and profit growth beyond the lasting impacts of Covid-19. The critical nature of its products, geared towards non-discretionary demand and ESG related growth drivers, should ensure that the Group continues to deliver. Halma has proven to be resilient and is well positioned to capitalise on market recovery and M&A opportunities (acquisition resumption on 21 Dec 2020 with a £37m deal for Static Systems – click here for our note). Its valuation is at a premium, but we expect the positive long-term investment case to ultimately drive the shares forward.