Changes in the organization and management

The Pfleiderer Group completed the realignment of the individual business units that began at the end of 2019 and the associated organisational changes at the end of 2020. In future, the corporate group will be managed in three independent business units.

As planned, there will also be a corresponding change in the management at the beginning of 2021: Dr. Boris Gorella has been appointed CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board with a focus on Pfleiderer Panel West as of 1 February 2021. As early as 1 January 2021, Dr Mani Herold joined the company as CFO with a focus on Panel West.

As of 1 February, Pfleiderer Panel West, Pfleiderer Panel East and Silekol will report directly to the Advisory Board of the Pfleiderer Group. The Group’s outgoing CEO, Zbigniew Prokopowicz, will join the Advisory Board, where he will be Executive Chairman responsible for the two business units Panel East and Silekol. The outgoing Group CFO, Dr. Nico Reiner, is leaving the Pfleiderer Group.

The Chairman of the Advisory Board, Miguel Kohlmann, praises both gentlemen “for their outstanding commitment, never-ceasing efforts and achievements as senior business leaders, which they demonstrated in particular during the COVID 19 crisis in the first half of 2020”.

Dr. Boris Gorella spent 10 years, prior to joining Pfleiderer, as CEO of Beckers Group, a supplier of industrial coatings. During this tenure, he transformed the privately owned group into a world leader in in its core segments. Prior to Beckers, Dr. Gorella held senior positions with leading chemical and consulting companies. He holds a PhD in Chemistry from Technical University Berlin and an MBA from INSEAD.

“I look forward to the new tasks at Pfleiderer, and will look to further develop Pfleiderer’s leading market position given its strong, customeroriented franchise, its reliance on wood as a sustainable resource, and its committed employees,” said Dr. Gorella upon taking up his new role.

Dr. Mani Herold previously spent 5 years as CFO at Cerdia, a global chemicals group. Prior to that, he was CFO of the global acting E.ON Connecting Energies, a division of E.ON Group. He has also held senior positions at various major financial houses. He holds a PhD in Economics from Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich.

“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Boris Gorella and Dr Mani Herold as members of the management team at Pfleiderer at a time when we are entering an exciting new phase of growth,” said Miguel Kohlmann.