PALFINGER announces generation change in its Supervisory Board

Hubert Palfinger and Alexander Exner retire from the Board. Hannes Palfinger and Heinrich Dieter Kiener are first-time nominees for election to the Board

Yesterday Hubert Palfinger, aged 68, and Alexander Exner, aged 63, announced that they were going to retire from the Supervisory Board as of the close of the Annual General Meeting scheduled to take place on 30 March 2011. Both say that the reason for their retirement is a generation change in the Board that has been prepared for a long time.

Hubert Palfinger turned what originally started out as a family-run enterprise into a genuine global player. He headed the Company for 33 years and at the IPO in 1999 he became Chairman of the Supervisory Board. With a 65-percent shareholding, the Palfinger family has been majority shareholder of PALFINGER AG to date. In 2003 Hubert Palfinger was succeeded as Chairman by Alexander 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," Hubert Palfinger explained his rationale.

Alexander Exner’s relationship with the Company also goes back a long time, in fact over 25 years. In the 1990s he was CEO of Palfinger Holding AG. After the establishment of PALFINGER AG he became Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board and in 2003 took over as Chairman from Hubert Palfinger. In December 2010 he retired as Chairman and was succeeded in office by the previous Board member Alexander Doujak, but continued to have a seat on the Board.

The Supervisory Board will propose Hannes Palfinger and Heinrich Dieter Kiener to the Annual General Meeting for election to the Board.
Hannes Andreas Palfinger, aged 37, has most recently headed the marine and wind energy business of Palfinger systems GmbH, which was acquired by the PALFINGER Group in autumn 2010. Before that he worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers Vienna in auditing. When he was a student of engineering and business economics, Hannes Palfinger also made a name of himself in track competitions as a four-time Austrian sprint champion.

Heinrich Dieter Kiener, aged 54, is shareholder and managing director of Stiegl brewery. The lawyer and business economist holds seats on the Supervisory Boards of Salzburger Sparkasse and Schoellerbank.