Eppendorf realigns Management Board structure
- Eppendorf SE returns to a structure with only one CEO
- The previous Co-CEOs, Eva van Pelt and Dr. Peter Fruhstorfer, leave the company by mutual agreement
- The position of the CEO will be filled
- Until further notice Dr. Wilhelm Plüster will take on the role as spokesperson for the Management Board
- The Management Board is expanded by the newly created position of a Chief Operating Officer (COO)
- Dr. Dirk Loebermann will be appointed as the COO on October 15, 2023 by the Supervisory Board
Hamburg, October 11, 2023 – Hamburg-based Eppendorf SE is realigning its Management Board structure and returns to having only one CEO. In addition, the Management Board will be expanded to include the position and function of a Chief Operating Officer (COO). The Supervisory Board of the Eppendorf Group informed about this decision.
The company and the previous Co-CEOs, Eva van Pelt and Dr. Peter Fruhstorfer, have decided by mutual agreement to end their joint collaboration. At the same time, Eppendorf is starting the search for a CEO.
Until this position is filled, Dr. Wilhelm Plüster will take on the role as spokesperson for the Management Board.
For this period of transition, the new Management Board consists of Chief Technology Officer Dr. Wilhelm Plüster (CTO), Chief Financial Officer Axel Jaeger (CFO) and the newly created position of a Chief Operating Officer (COO).
The Eppendorf Supervisory Board will appoint the COO position on October 15, 2023, with Dr. Dirk Loebermann. In addition to this function, he will be responsible for managing the programs to increase profitability and optimize the organization.
With the realignment of the Management Board, the Supervisory Board is responding to the economic challenges that Eppendorf, like all life science companies worldwide, has to face and is setting the course to maintain the company's competitiveness. This requires reducing complexity, creating shorter decision-making processes, and enabling faster implementation.
The Supervisory Board would like to express its special thanks to the previous Co-CEOs, Eva van Pelt, and Dr. Peter Fruhstorfer. They have successfully led the Eppendorf Group since December 2019 and contributed to the Group being able to expand its growth even during the pandemic. In addition, they have implemented numerous projects that are important for the successful further development of Eppendorf, such as the acquisition of the Himac centrifuge business of the Japanese Koki Holdings Co., Ltd., the consistent further development of the business portfolio and the multi-channel sales structure, and the initiation of Eppendorf's first sustainability strategy.
The Supervisory Board would like to thank Eva van Pelt and Dr. Peter Fruhstorfer for their commitment and dedication. It wishes them all the best for their professional and private future.
About the Eppendorf Group
Eppendorf is a leading international life science company that develops, manufactures, and distributes instruments, consumables, and services for laboratories around the world.
Divided into the core business areas Liquid Handling, Consumables, Separation & Instrumentation, and Bioprocess, the portfolio includes, for example, pipettes, pipette tips, centrifuges, mixers, ultra-low temperature freezers, and bioreactors for cell and gene research. In addition, Eppendorf offers a wide range of high-quality consumables. In fiscal year 2022, the Eppendorf Group generated 1.23 billion euros in total sales and invested 76 million euros in Research and Development (R&D).
Eppendorf products are used in academic and industrial research laboratories, for example in companies of pharmaceutical, biotech, chemical, and food industries. However, Eppendorf products are also used in clinical or environmental analysis laboratories, in forensics and in industrial laboratories for process analysis, production and quality assurance.
Eppendorf was founded in 1945, is headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, operates production and R&D sites in Europe, Asia, and North America, and has more than 5,000 employees in 33 countries worldwide. They all act in accordance with the purpose set by the company's founders: to improve human living conditions.
Media contact:
Dr. Ralph Esper
Eppendorf SE
Barkhausenweg 1
22339 Hamburg
Tel.: +49 40 538 01-195
Mobil: +49 170 79 80 778
Mail: esper.r@eppendorf.de