Generation change at Beiersdorf

Stefan F. Heidenreich (48) has been appointed to Beiersdorf AG’s Executive Board effective January 1, 2012, and will take over as CEO following the Annual General Meeting on April 26, 2012. The Supervisory Board resolved the generation change in its meeting today. Heidenreich has been CEO of the international Hero Group since 2002, a position he will leave on December 31, 2011. Thomas-B. Quaas, who has been CEO of Beiersdorf since 2005, will remain in office until the end of the Annual General Meeting, after which the plan is for him to be elected to the Supervisory Board.

“We thank Thomas-B. Quaas very much for his successful work for Beiersdorf over the past decades, right down to our joint accomplishment of the generation change in 2012. And we look forward to continuing our cooperation, then in the Supervisory Board after his 60th birthday”, said Prof. Dr. Reinhard Pöllath, Chairman of the Supervisory Board. “His successor, Stefan F. Heidenreich, has 15 years’ experience in leading an international branded goods company – also a small player competing with much larger competitors – which has been successful in establishing itself as a global player. He stands for continuity in executing Beiersdorf’s strategy and its operating model together with all colleagues.”

Thomas-B. Quaas looks back on a long and successful career with the company: “I have worked for Beiersdorf with great pleasure and commitment for 33 years and will now pass the baton to the next generation. Stefan F. Heidenreich’s brand and management experience makes him the ideal successor.”

Heidenreich has been CEO of the Hero Group since 2002 and a member of its Executive Board since 1996. Under his leadership, Hero has developed into a leading global manufacturer of baby foods and jams (incl. Schwartau). Heidenreich has around 25 years’ international experience of managing brands and consumer goods companies. After studying business administration in Kiel, he started his career in 1987 at Procter & Gamble, where he managed brands such as Pampers, Ariel, and Crest. In 1992, he moved to Reckitt Benckiser, where he oversaw an aggressive expansion into the Eastern European region for its laundry and cleaning division. Following a two-year stint at Bertelsmann, he returned to the international branded goods business in 1996 as a member of Hero’s Executive Board.

After fifteen successful years at Hero, Heidenreich is looking forward to his new challenge: “Beiersdorf is an internationally leading skin care company with exceptionally well established global brands, remarkable innovative competencies, and great growth potential. I have great respect for how Beiersdorf has developed its NIVEA brand into the world’s largest skin care brand, and I am looking forward to leading this fascinating company into the future together with all of its employees.”