23.02.2011

Generation change at Palfinger

Hubert Palfinger, 68 and Alexander Exner, 63, have announced that they are retiring from as directors of Palfinger at the end of March. The two say that the reason for their retirement is a generation change in the board that has been planned some time.

Hubert Palfinger headed the company for 33 years, moving to chairman of the supervisory board after the stock market flotation in 1999. In 2003 he was succeeded as chairman by Exner, but remained a Board member.

“At the age of 22, I took over the Company from my father, and in the past 45 years I have dedicated all my resources to create a global industry giant. I already started loosening the reins when the company went public. And now that we have successfully mastered the effects the financial and economic crisis had on our Company, the right time has come to actually pass on the baton to the next generation.”

Exner’s relationship with the company goes back 25 years in the 1990s he was chief executive of Palfinger Holding, becoming deputy chairman of the supervisory board when the company went public. In December he retired as chairman and was succeeded in office by the previous board member Alexander Doujak, but continued to sit on the board.
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Hannes Andreas Palfinger

The supervisory board will propose Hannes Palfinger and Heinrich Dieter Kiener for election to the board at the Annual General Meeting on March 30th .
Hannes Andreas Palfinger, 37, has most recently headed the marine and wind energy business of Palfinger systems, which was acquired by the Palfinger group in autumn 2010. Before that he worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers Vienna as an auditor. He is also a four-time Austrian sprint champion.

Heinrich Dieter Kiener,54, is shareholder and managing director of Stiegl brewery, a lawyer and business economist he is also a director of Salzburger Sparkasse and Schoellerbank.
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Heinrich Dieter Kiener

See board changes at Palfinger