Klöckner reshuffles board, strengthens country units

Klöckner & Co has appointed Oliver Falk and John Ganem to its management board effective 1 August, Kallanish learns from the German-based steel distributor.

Jens Wegmann, who has been a member of the board since December 2017, will leave the company in mutual agreement, Klöckner’s statement says. His responsibilities as coo will be assumed by John Ganem in the USA and by ceo Gisbert Rühl in Europe.

Oliver Falk takes over the function of cfo, which was temporarily assumed by ceo Gisbert Rühl. Falk has been active in leading positions in the group for more than 25 years and is currently cfo of Kloeckner Metals Europe GmbH. The management board of Klöckner will thus consist of ceo Gisbert Rühl, cfo Oliver Falk, and ceo Americas John Ganem.

In the course of the realignment of the management board, a further decentralisation of activities was decided, the company notes. It says it intends to take even greater account of the different structures in the countries in terms of organisation, and promote more independent and entrepreneurial action in the group companies. In return, this leads to a reduction in responsibilities at the level of the group’s holding. In the future, the holding will focus on core functions and the design and control of the digitisation strategy, Klöckner says.