Essen-Ruhr / DE. (bag) The Supervisory Board of German Brenntag AG appointed Christian Kohlpaintner as the company’s next CEO and Member of the Management Board effective 01 January, 2020. Over the last two decades, Kohlpaintner has held various management positions in leading international companies. He joins from Clariant International Limited where he was Member of the Executive Committee. Kohlpaintner will succeed the current CEO, Steven Holland, who will leave the company at the same time.
Stefan Zuschke, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Brenntag AG, commented on the appointment: «With Christian Kohlpaintner we have been able to place as our new CEO an internationally experienced business leader with a proven track record. He has demonstrated impressively that he can lead and develop major business divisions and companies successfully. It will be his mission to lead Brenntag to sustainable growth and expand the market leadership further. It will also be about breaking new ground while at the same time preserving the core of the successful business model.»
The future CEO, Christian Kohlpaintner, commented on his appointment: «I am looking forward to my new role at Brenntag and the opportunity of working with my colleagues on the Management Board and the whole Brenntag team. Brenntag is a very healthy company which is ideally positioned in the chemical value chain.»
The appointment of Christian Kohlpaintner also marks the end of Steven Holland’s almost 14 years tenure with Brenntag, more than 8 years as its CEO. Stefan Zuschke: «The Supervisory Board would like to thank Steven Holland. Steven’s vision and leadership have driven the company’s growth and success in a dynamic and challenging environment. We sincerely thank Steven for his contributions and for developing the company into the leading position that Brenntag holds in the market today. The Supervisory Board wishes him all the best for the future.»
Christian Kohlpaintner (55) has more than 20 years of management experience in an international environment. The Ph.D. chemist began his professional career at Hoechst, where he held various positions in Germany and the USA. Afterwards he moved to Celanese, where he worked amongst others as Marketing Director and as Vice President for Innovations. Between 2003 and 2009, Kohlpaintner worked for Chemische Fabrik Budenheim, where his last position was CEO. In 2009, Christian Kohlpaintner joined Clariant in Switzerland, where he had been a member of the Executive Committee since then. Most recently he was based in China and amongst others responsible for the growth-oriented business areas of Clariant and the whole region Asia.
