Nobel Biocare chairman to leave by March 2010-paper

ZURICH, July 11 (Reuters) - Nobel Biocare Chairman Rolf Soiron will step down at the Swiss dental implant maker's next annual general meeting in March next year at the latest, he was quoted on Saturday as saying in an interview. Soiron, who is also the chairman of cement maker Holcim and drugs industry supplier Lonza, said he now wants to focus more on organisations such as think-tank Avenir Suisse, of which he is president, and the International Committee of the Red Cross. "It was always my intention at the age of around 65 to be more involved in communal projects because they had less space during my 'business time'," Soiron told Swiss newspaper NZZ. A spokesman for the group confirmed that Soiron would step down. Soiron said it was rather unlikely that he would go before next spring, but the board should decide what is best for Nobel Biocare. Soiron said he planned to stay at Holcim and Lonza. Nobel Biocare, the world's largest maker of dental implants, had a string of profit warnings last year and has lost market share because of its large presence in Spain and the United States, which have been hit hard by the recession. The group, whose shares have come under a lot of pressure recently, was relegated to the Swiss mid-cap index SMIM earlier this week. Soiron said the group was still facing tough markets, but he was confident that Nobel Biocare will be able to benefit from its "back to basics" strategy when the recovery comes. Soiron, who studied history at the University of Basel, was appointed Nobel Biocare chairman in 2003. (Reporting by Katie Reid, editing by Anthony Barker) Keywords: NOBELBIOCARE/ (Zurich newsroom +41.58.306.7336; fax [phone]; [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.

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