Generation change at the top of TAKKT AG: Maria Zesch succeeds Felix Zimmermann
Stuttgart, April 16, 2021. The Supervisory Board of TAKKT AG ("TAKKT") today unanimously appointed Maria Zesch as the company's new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). She will assume the position on August 1, 2021, succeeding Felix Zimmermann, who will leave the Management Board on his own request at the end of the Annual General Meeting on May 11, 2021.
"We are delighted to welcome Maria Zesch, an experienced leader and proven marketing, sales and service expert, as TAKKT's new CEO," said Florian Funck, Chairman of TAKKT's Supervisory Board. "With her ample digital and B2B know-how, her merger and transformation expertise and more than 20 years of management experience in international companies, she is the right person to realize further growth through digital transformation and a consistent customer-centric approach."
Currently, Maria Zesch serves as member of the board for B2B & Digitalization at Magenta Telekom, an Austrian internet and mobile operator. She held various management positions within Deutsche Telekom Group since 2008. Prior to that, she worked at the strategy consultancy A.T. Kearney and at the media company ORF.
"I am looking forward to the new challenge and would like to thank the Supervisory Board for their confidence and trust," said Maria Zesch. "With its international network, broad line-up and comprehensive expertise, TAKKT is able to offer customers worldwide an unprecedented experience in the B2B equipment sector. As part of the TAKKT team, I am looking forward to shaping the company's continued success; realizing further growth for both, the customers and the company through a clear focus on customer orientation and a consistently sustainable product range."
Already in September 2020 TAKKT CEO Felix Zimmermann had announced that he would not renew his current contract to initiate a generation change and thus support the ongoing transformation of the Group. Now that the succession has been arranged, he has asked for his contract to be terminated at the end of the upcoming Annual General Meeting to be able to focus on other tasks. The Supervisory Board has complied with this request.
Florian Funck expressed his gratitude towards Felix Zimmermann for his long-standing contribution and fruitful collaboration: "Felix Zimmermann has played a decisive role in shaping the success of the company during his almost 20 years at TAKKT; including more than ten years as its CEO. I would like to express my greatest gratitude and appreciation on behalf of the Supervisory Board. He has further extended TAKKT's activities in Europe and the USA and driven the transformation of the company into a successful e-commerce provider whose profitability is well above industry average. We wish Felix Zimmermann all the very best for the future."
From the end of the Annual General Meeting until Maria Zesch joins the company, TAKKT will be managed by a transition team, which will include Management Board members Claude Tomaszewski and Tobias Flaitz, as well as other members of senior management and representatives of the operating units.
In addition to the management board personnel change, the supervisory board of TAKKT AG also discussed the distribution of roles within the board. As a result, Thomas Schmidt, CEO of TAKKT's majority shareholder Haniel, will take over as Chairman of the Supervisory Board after the end of the 2021 Annual General Meeting. Haniel CFO Florian Funck will remain a member of the Supervisory Board.
Maria Zesch
About TAKKT AG
The TAKKT Group is specialized on B2B distance selling for business equipment in Europe and North America. The group is represented in more than 25 countries with its units KAISER+KRAFT, Ratioform, National Business Furniture, Displays2Go, Newport, Hubert und Central. The portfolio of its subsidiaries offers more than a million of products ranging from durables that companies use for their business activities, office furniture, transport packaging, display articles, food service supplies to commercial kitchens, hotels, and retailers. Largest shareholder is Haniel, holding shares of 50.25%.
Contacts:
Michael Loch phone +49 711 3465-8222
Benjamin Bühler phone +49 711 3465-8223
Email: investor@takkt.de
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