Wesfarmers confirmed it had made good progress with preparations for a demerger of its Coles division. The demerger is expected to be completed in November 2018, subject to shareholder and other approvals. Wesfarmers also announced a number of proposed non-executive director appointments to the board of Coles. James Graham AM will be appointed Chairman if the demerger proceeds, bringing extensive commercial, capital markets and board leadership experience to the role. Following his appointment as Chairman-elect of Coles, Mr. Graham has stepped down as a non-executive director of Wesfarmers. The other non-executive directors proposed are David Cheesewright, Jacqueline Chow and Richard Freudenstein. Together they will bring extensive global executive and board experience to Coles, including in international retailing, technology and communications, data and analytics, and supply chain management and relationships in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector. Mr. Cheesewright will be the Wesfarmers nominee on the Coles Board in recognition of its retention of a shareholding interest. Mr. Cheesewright is also to be appointed an advisor to the Wesfarmers Board. Archie Norman will step down as Deputy Chairman of Coles and advisor to the Wesfarmers Board to become an advisor to the new Coles Board, continuing his strategic contribution to the business.