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voestalpine Names Five New Department Heads
10/02/2014 - After enlarging the voestalpine AG Management Board and reducing the average age of its members, the Group is now completing its generational transfer with new first management level appointments to key functions.
On 1 October 2014, Franz Michael Androsch (52) succeeded newly appointed Management Board member Peter Schwab as head of Group’s R&D, and Mathias Farthofer (40) took over in Corporate Development. A new Corporate Procurement Department (Corporate Purchasing) has been created and will be headed by Michael Eyett, previously in charge of Corporate Development. Since 1 April 2014, Christian Kaufmann (40) has been the new head of the Legal Department, M&A and Compliance, with Johann Prammer (51) responsible for Environmental Affairs.
voestalpine AG faces the challenges arising from the Group’s increasingly international activities with a much younger team. Franz Michael Androsch, who succeeds Peter Schwab, is an expert of international repute and becomes Head of Group’s R&D. Born in the USA, the chemist started his career at voestalpine in 1984, in product and process development in Linz. He later moved to Quality Assurance Cold-rolled Strip/Processing and was most recently head of the R&D department for this sector. In the future, the 52-year old will be in charge of a record research budget of over € 150 million, with around 760 R&D staff worldwide.
Corporate Development, the Group’s strategic core, is now headed by 40-year old Mathias Farthofer. After eleven years at the BMW Group, with management functions in Munich including controlling development performance and long-term corporate planning and budgeting, he moved to the voestalpine AG Steel Division in 2013 where he ran the Strategy Department. Farthofer now takes over as head of Corporate Development from Michael Eyett, who becomes chief procurement officer (CPO). In the future, Eyett will be responsible for Group’s strategic control of material and services purchasing. Michael Eyett is a British citizen. He was born in Bermuda and grew up in England, Australia, and Germany. He studied physics in Germany, receiving his doctorate from the Johannes Kepler University in Linz. Eyett’s professional experience includes key positions at the Mannesmann Group in Düsseldorf before joining the voestalpine Group in 1999 as head of Corporate Development, a position he held until his current promotion.
At the beginning of the current business year, on 1 April 2014, 40-year old lawyer Christian Kaufmann was promoted to head of the Legal Department, M&A and Compliance. A native of Linz, in 2002, after completing his degree and gaining further qualifications, Kaufmann began his career at voestalpine AG in the Legal Department where he was responsible for mergers & acquisitions, capital market law, financing and compliance. Kaufmann has also been the Group’s leading compliance officer since 2012. In his new position he succeeds Hubert Possegger who was promoted to the Board of the Metal Engineering Division in spring 2014.
The Environmental Affairs Department has been headed by Johann Prammer since 1 April 2014. Having invested a total of € 2.4 billion in this sector over the past ten years alone, the voestalpine Group is the international industry leader in this field. Prammer replaces Hannes Sigmund who has retired after 42 years working for the Group. After obtaining his degree in mechanical engineering, Prammer (51) came to voestalpine in 1984 to work in process technology. After several external years as a consultant for process and environmental technology, he returned to voestalpine in 2004, this time to the Environmental Affairs. His task is to further extend the Group’s position as a leader in environmental matters.
New voestalpine AG appointments, as of October 1, 2014
voestalpine AG faces the challenges arising from the Group’s increasingly international activities with a much younger team. Franz Michael Androsch, who succeeds Peter Schwab, is an expert of international repute and becomes Head of Group’s R&D. Born in the USA, the chemist started his career at voestalpine in 1984, in product and process development in Linz. He later moved to Quality Assurance Cold-rolled Strip/Processing and was most recently head of the R&D department for this sector. In the future, the 52-year old will be in charge of a record research budget of over € 150 million, with around 760 R&D staff worldwide.
Corporate Development, the Group’s strategic core, is now headed by 40-year old Mathias Farthofer. After eleven years at the BMW Group, with management functions in Munich including controlling development performance and long-term corporate planning and budgeting, he moved to the voestalpine AG Steel Division in 2013 where he ran the Strategy Department. Farthofer now takes over as head of Corporate Development from Michael Eyett, who becomes chief procurement officer (CPO). In the future, Eyett will be responsible for Group’s strategic control of material and services purchasing. Michael Eyett is a British citizen. He was born in Bermuda and grew up in England, Australia, and Germany. He studied physics in Germany, receiving his doctorate from the Johannes Kepler University in Linz. Eyett’s professional experience includes key positions at the Mannesmann Group in Düsseldorf before joining the voestalpine Group in 1999 as head of Corporate Development, a position he held until his current promotion.
At the beginning of the current business year, on 1 April 2014, 40-year old lawyer Christian Kaufmann was promoted to head of the Legal Department, M&A and Compliance. A native of Linz, in 2002, after completing his degree and gaining further qualifications, Kaufmann began his career at voestalpine AG in the Legal Department where he was responsible for mergers & acquisitions, capital market law, financing and compliance. Kaufmann has also been the Group’s leading compliance officer since 2012. In his new position he succeeds Hubert Possegger who was promoted to the Board of the Metal Engineering Division in spring 2014.
The Environmental Affairs Department has been headed by Johann Prammer since 1 April 2014. Having invested a total of € 2.4 billion in this sector over the past ten years alone, the voestalpine Group is the international industry leader in this field. Prammer replaces Hannes Sigmund who has retired after 42 years working for the Group. After obtaining his degree in mechanical engineering, Prammer (51) came to voestalpine in 1984 to work in process technology. After several external years as a consultant for process and environmental technology, he returned to voestalpine in 2004, this time to the Environmental Affairs. His task is to further extend the Group’s position as a leader in environmental matters.
New voestalpine AG appointments, as of October 1, 2014
- Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Franz Michael ANDROSCH, head of R&D
- Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Michael EYETT, chief procurement officer (CPO)
- Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Mathias FARTHOFER, head of Corporate Development
- Dr. Christian KAUFMANN, head of Legal Department, M&A and Compliance
- Ing. Johann PRAMMER, head of Environment Affairs
