Reiner Heiken is set to take over as ceo of Hellman Group, effective December 1, 2018, following a restructuring programme led by outgoing ceo Dr Thomas Knecht.
Heiken, currently ceo of Schenker Europe, has more than 20 years of experience in the logistics sector and held several management positions at Kühne + Nagel.
Hellmann also appointed Dr. Michael Noth (formerly chief financial officer (cfo) of Nordzucker) as cfo on August 1, 2018. Jost Hellmann, meanwhile, will resign from his position as chief commercial officer at the end of the year.
From the beginning of 2019, Hellmann Worldwide Logistics will be managed by a board consisting exclusively of external managers.
Jost and Klaus Hellmann will continue to be represented directly or indirectly with one vote on the supervisory board; the five external supervisory board members will be led by the former Schenker ceo, Dr Thomas Lieb.
The restructuring of Hellman Group included the establishment of three business units. In addition, the group was successfully refinanced in a structured process resulting in a multi-year loan agreement with a banking syndicate.
