Kasper Rorsted new Chairman of Henkel's Management Board

DJ Kasper Rorsted new Chairman of Henkel's Management Board

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Effective the end of Henkel's 2008 Annual General  Meeting,  Kasper  Rorsted  is 
the new Chairman of the Management Board. Having reached the  internally  agreed 
age of retirement, his predecessor, Ulrich  Lehner,  resigned  as  of  the  same 
date. Lehner was  appointed  Chairman  back  in  May  2000  and,  with  a  brief 
interruption, had been with Henkel since 1981. He will, however, remain  closely 
associated with the company as a member of its Shareholders' Committee. 
 
Kasper Rorsted is the new  Chairman  of  the  Henkel  Management  Board.  Henkel 
announced that the 46-year-old Dane was to be the successor of Ulrich Lehner  as 
Henkel Chairman back in December 2006. Having taken this decision  at  an  early 
stage, Henkel was able to continue the good tradition  of  providing  employees, 
customers, business partners and  participants  in  the  capital  markets  early 
planning security. For all stakeholders, this decision means a  high  degree  of 
continuity in the areas of corporate culture, people management and  sustainable 
business development. 
 
 "Ulrich Lehner has been a major force in driving Henkel's internationality  and 
profitability. By realigning our focus to our brands and  technologies,  he  set 
the direction for the continuous successful development  of  Henkel,"  commented 
Albrecht  Woeste,  Chairman  of  both  the  Shareholders'  Committee   and   the 
Supervisory Board  at  Henkel,  in  thanking  the  departing  Chairman  for  the 
outstanding contribution he made to the company during his long  tenure.  Woeste 
went on: "I am sure that Kasper Rorsted will go on to add  further  chapters  to 
Henkel's success story." 
 
Rorsted, who has been with Henkel since April 2005, will be the company's  first 
Chairman from outside the German-speaking area. He is also  the  first  Chairman 
of Henkel's newly constituted Management Board. Effective  the  end  of  today's 
Annual General Meeting, the newly founded Henkel  Management  AG  joined  Henkel 
KGaA as its sole personally liable partner.  Henkel  KGaA  will  in  the  future 
operate under the name of Henkel AG & Co. KGaA. The Management Board  of  Henkel 
Management AG comprises the same executives who made up  the  former  Management 
Board of the KGaA - with the  exception  of  Prof.  Dr.  Lehner  -  with  Kasper 
Rorsted as Chairman. Ulrich Lehner will hand over his office to  Kasper  Rorsted 
tonight at an evening function with 250 invited guests. 
 
"I am very much looking  forward  to  the  tasks  ahead  of  me.  Henkel  is  an 
internationally successful company with strong,  well-known  brands,"  commented 
Kasper Rorsted. "I see it as my duty  to  continue  driving  Henkel  forward  to 
success. This will mean continuously and consistently augmenting  our  many  and 
varied strengths. One of the main focal points for 2008 will be the  integration 
of the Adhesives and Electronic  Materials  businesses  acquired  from  National 
Starch." 
 
Kasper Rorsted already has a  successful  career  behind  him,  having  occupied 
senior positions in the international managements  of  Digital,  Oracle,  Compaq 
and Hewlett Packard. Before joining the Henkel Management Board, he  was  Senior 
Vice President and General  Manager  at  Hewlett  Packard  responsible  for  the 
Europe, Middle  East  &  Africa  operation,  which  accounted  for  some  40,000 
employees and annual sales of around  20  billion  euros.  When  Kasper  Rorsted 
joined the Henkel Management Board in April 2005, he assumed responsibility  for 
Human Resources, Purchasing, IT and Infrastructure Services.  In  January  2007, 
he was appointed Vice-Chairman of the Management Board. 
 
In addition to Danish, Rorsted also speaks English, German and  Swedish.  He  is 
married with four children. 
 
For more than 130 years, Henkel has been a leader with brands  and  technologies 
that make people's lives easier, better and more beautiful. Henkel  operates  in 
three business areas - Home Care, Personal Care, and  Adhesives  Technologies  - 
and ranks among the  Fortune  Global  500  companies.  In  fiscal  2007,  Henkel 
generated sales of 13,074 million euros and operating profit  of  1,344  million 
euros. Our 58,000 employees worldwide are dedicated to fulfilling our  corporate 
claim, "A Brand like a Friend," and  ensuring  that  people  in  more  than  125 
countries can trust in brands and technologies from Henkel. 
 
Press Contact: 
Lars Witteck                      Wulf Klüppelholz 
Phone: [phone]           Phone: [phone] 
Fax: [phone]             Fax: [phone] 
 
Henkel AG & Co. KGaA 
Head of Corporate Communications 
Ernst Primosch, Corporate Vice President 
 
[e-mail] 
 
Photo material and CVs for download available at: http://henkel.com/press 
 
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end of announcement                               euro adhoc 
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 14, 2008 11:50 ET (15:50 GMT)