Thyssenkrupp Board Supports Company Split, New CEO

By Ruth Bender

BERLIN--Germany's Thyssenkrupp AG said Sunday that its current interim Chief Executive Guido Kerkhoff will remain in the role, as the group's supervisory board approved his plan to split the steel conglomerate into two separately listed companies.

The steel conglomerate's supervisory board in a meeting Sunday unanimously approved the plan presented last week by Mr. Kerkhoff to divide Thyssenkrupp into to independently-traded companies--one comprising the company's materials operations and the other the group's capital goods businesses.

Board member Bernhard Pellens was named Chairman of the supervisory board, the group said.

The appointment of Messrs. Kerkhoff and Pellens ends a monthslong management crisis at the ailing German industrial group, triggered by a clash between former management and activist shareholders over the future of the company.

Longstanding CEO Heinrich Hiesinger left the company abruptly in July, followed shortly after by Chairman Ulrich Lehner, citing a lack of support from shareholders who had pushed for improved profitability and a simpler structure. Mr. Kerkhoff, the group's former finance chief, had acted as CEO since.

Write to Ruth Bender at Ruth.Bender@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 30, 2018 11:01 ET (15:01 GMT)

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