Conzzeta: Executive Committee to step down - Name change and appointment of Bystronic's management

Conzzeta's Executive Committee to step down
Name change and appointment of Bystronic's management

Zurich, March 16, 2021 - As a further step in the ongoing strategic transformation, Conzzeta's Executive Committee will step down at the upcoming Annual General Meeting on April 21, 2021. The Board of Directors of Conzzeta AG will propose to the Annual General Meeting that Conzzeta AG be renamed Bystronic AG and appoints Bystronic's Executive Committee as of this date.

Given the rapid progress in the strategic transformation of the Group announced on December 9, 2019, and in particular the foreseeable focusing of the business portfolio on Bystronic, the current management structure for a Group with very different business activities is no longer required. Consequently, Conzzeta's Executive Committee will step down at the upcoming Annual General Meeting on April 21, 2021. Group CEO Michael Willome, Group CFO Kaspar W. Kelterborn, General Counsel Barbara Senn as well as FoamPartner CEO Dr. Michael Riedel and Mammut CEO Dr. Oliver Pabst will leave the Group during the transformation, the latter two in context of the planned divestment of the business units they manage.

The Board of Directors of Conzzeta AG appoints Bystronic's Executive Committee as of this date. Operational responsibility for Bystronic will be held by: Alex Waser as CEO (Swiss, 1967, with Bystronic since 2013), Beat Neukom as CFO (Swiss, 1970, as of May 2021), Johan Elster as President Region EMEA (Norwegian, 1964, since 1996), Robert St. Aubin as President Region Americas (American, 1956, since 2010), Norbert Seo as President Region APAC (German, 1964, since 2015), Dr. Song You, PhD, as President Region China (American, 1970, since 2016) and Eamon Doherty as Chief Service Officer (Irish, 1968, since 2016). The short profiles of the designated members of Bystronic's Executive Committee are available on Bystronic's website at ec.bystronic.com.

With its "Strategy 2025", which was presented at the digital Capital Markets Day on November 10, 2020, Bystronic aims to grow at an accelerated and profitable pace, positioning itself even closer to the customer with new technical solutions and services. To ensure the stability required to implement the "Strategy 2025", the existing shareholder agreement will remain in place.

The new focus on Bystronic makes a name change appropriate, with the aim of positioning Bystronic as a modern, sustainably managed and future-oriented company. The Board of Directors of Conzzeta AG will therefore propose to the upcoming Annual General Meeting that Conzzeta AG be renamed Bystronic AG. Subject to shareholder approval and following official notification by the Swiss Stock Exchange, the company's listed registered shares will trade under the new ticker symbol BYS (but with the same Swiss security number and ISIN) beginning of May 2021.

Ernst Bärtschi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Conzzeta: "On behalf of the Board of Directors of Conzzeta AG, I would like to thank the departing members of the Executive Committee of Conzzeta AG for their influential work, especially also during the challenging Group transformation with the successful divestment of several business units. It is mainly to their credit that, over the last few years, measures were developed and consistently implemented to strengthen the earnings potential and operational performance in all businesses while delivering above-average growth. At today's annual results' conference, I will have the opportunity to acknowledge their achievements. We wish all those involved every success for the future, particularly, of course, the new Bystronic, its management team and its over 3,000 employees."

Michael Willome, Conzzeta Group CEO: "It has been a great honor for me to lead Conzzeta as Group CEO since January 2016. In an initial phase, together with my colleagues on the Executive Committee and the management teams, we laid the foundations for rapid growth and improved profitability in all business units. In a second phase, we carried out a consequent assessment of our market positions and industrial logic in our very different areas of activity. This led to the decision to transform the Group, the completion of which is now imminent. I would like to thank Ernst Bärtschi as Chairman and the other members of the Board of Directors of Conzzeta AG, my colleagues on the Executive Committee, my team and all others involved in operations for their trust and the excellent and successful cooperation over the past years. The ability to realistically assess the own market situation as well as the willingness to courageously and consistently shape even far-reaching changes will open up new opportunities for everyone involved as they move forward."

Notes

Conzzeta's results' conference today, with the discussion of the annual results for 2020, an outline of the next transformation steps and the 2021 outlook for Bystronic, will be broadcast here as a webcast from 11.15 am CET on. Participants who wish to participate in the Q&A over the phone are asked to register here 30 minutes prior to the start to receive their personalized dial-in details.

Please note that Conzzeta today sent out further media releases on the 2020 results and on changes to the Board of Directors.

All media releases sent out today, the results presentation, the annual report and the summary report are available here.

The short profiles of the designated members of Bystronic's Executive Committee are available on Bystronic's website at ec.bystronic.com.

Inquiries
Michael Stäheli, Head Investor Relations & Corporate Communications;
Tel. +41 44 468 24 49; media@conzzeta.com

About Conzzeta
Conzzeta is a diversified Swiss group of companies. It stands for innovation, market orientation and entrepreneurship. About 5,000 employees at more than 60 locations worldwide work in the Sheet Metal Processing, Foam Materials and Outdoor business units. In December 2019, Conzzeta announced the strategic focusing on the Sheet Metal Processing business unit and the sale of all its other activities. Conzzeta AG is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (CON).