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Airbus SE: Top Management Succession Plan announced
The board of directors of Airbus SE has decided on a series of executive changes to ensure an orderly succession in the leadership of the company.
The long-term CEO Tom Enders decided not to seek a further mandate beyond April 2019, when his current mandate ends after 14 years at the helm. At the same time, the company announced that the COO Fabrice Brégier will step down in February 2018 and pursue other interests. His successor will be Gulliaume Faury, who is currently the CEO of Airbus Helicopters.
As a background information to his decision, Enders said that in the coming 16 months he will work with the board to ensure a smooth transition to the next CEO. Also, he plans to focus on business challenges and will further progress and strengthen the ethics and compliance programmes. Earlier this year, Airbus released that the investigations initiated by the UK´s Serious Fraud Office and France`s Parquet National Financier following self-disclosure by Airbus to the UK authorities are ongoing. The outcome of these investigations could have a material impact on the financial statements, business and operations of Airbus.
Deutsche Börse: New CEO appointed
The supervisory board of Deutsche Börse has appointed Theodor Weimer as the new CEO of the company with effect of 1 January 2018 for a period of three years. This appointment follows the resignation of Carsten Kengeter with effect of 31 December 2017, which came with the explanation that this step would allow the company to focus its energy back onto clients, business and growth and to avoid further burdens caused by the ongoing investigation.
The news release did not indicate any intentions of the members of the supervisory board to join Mr. Kengeter´s initiative.
Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology: CEO Manfred Bender dismissed with immediate effect
The supervisory board of Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology decided unanimously to dismiss Manfred Bender from his position as CEO with immediate effect for important reasons on November 27th, 2017. However, the company did not disclose the reasons for this decision.
In October 2017, the district court of Wetzlar appointed Ms. Ayla Busch as a member of the supervisory board and since Ms. Busch took over the chairmanship pf the supervisory board. Pangea GmbH, a company owned by Busch SE, made a takeover offer for Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology in June this year.
Covestro appoints new CFO
With the appointment of Dr. Thomas Toepfer as the new CFO, Covestro´s supervisory board finally closed an important gap in the management team. The new CFO will be released from his current position as CFO of KION effective 31 March, 2018.
After the surprising resignation of the former CFO Frank H. Lutz in June this year, the CEO Patrick Thomson had to take over finances and act as an interim CFO. A few days ahead of the resignation of Mr. Lutz, Covestro did announce that Patrick Thomson will complete his contract as expected on 30 September, 2018, while Dr. Markus Steilmann has been appointed as his successor.