Changes in leadership at BayWa

The BayWa Supervisory Board is taking steps to ensure continuity on the Group's Board of Management and Supervisory Board by making changes to the company's senior management team. Wolfgang Altmüller - the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bayerische Raiffeisen-Beteiligungs-(BRB) AG - BayWa's largest shareholder - has nominated Prof. Klaus Josef Lutz as the future Supervisory Board Chairman of BayWa AG. After 15 years in office, CEO Klaus Josef Lutz will hand over responsibility for the operational management of BayWa AG on 31 March 2023. The Supervisory Board of BayWa AG has appointed Marcus Pöllinger, a current member of the Group's Board of Management, as the new Chief Executive Officer of BayWa AG from 1 April 2023. Marcus Pöllinger has been a member of BayWa's Board of Management since November 2018 and is responsible for the Agri Trade & Service, Agricultural Equipment, Building Materials and Energy business sectors in Germany. The Supervisory Board has also decided to appoint a woman to the Board of Management in 2023.

Manfred Nüssel, the current Chairman of BayWa's Supervisory Board, stated in 2018 that he would not stand for re-election. Nüssel has been a member of BayWa's Supervisory Board for 38 years and has been its chairperson for 22 years, making him the longest-serving supervisory board chairman at a listed company in Germany.

Manfred Nüssel on the change at BayWa's helm: "By making succession plans in advance, the Supervisory Board is initiating an orderly handover and ensuring the continued development of BayWa. Prof. Klaus Josef Lutz took over as CEO in 2008 and has since refocused BayWa from the ground up. The most important step under his leadership was the internationalisation of the agriculture and fruit business, as well as the decision to enter the fields of renewable energies. Thanks to his foresight and vision, BayWa AG is today a sound, healthy and globally active group of companies that operates successfully on every continent and is a pioneer in the fields of sustainability and climate neutrality."

"The Supervisory Board is grateful that BayWa AG will continue to have access to Prof. Lutz's tremendous experience once he has been elected as Supervisory Board Chairman in 2023. The company is in a better position today than it ever has been. Prof. Lutz has successfully guided BayWa through the crises of recent years with a steady hand." 

Manfred Nüssel adds: "I am glad that the future Chief Executive Officer, Marcus Pöllinger, has had the opportunity to hone his skills by taking on a variety of responsibilities throughout the company and has won out over other strong candidates, some of them from outside the Group. He has proved in a variety of management positions that he has the ability to intelligently initiate and successfully see through necessary changes that are a good fit for BayWa's set of values." 

Marcus Pöllinger, who joined the company in 2008, started gathering international experience within the BayWa Group at an early stage before taking on various leadership roles at BayWa AG. "In particular, Marcus Pöllinger has successfully restructured the Building Materials Segment and has most recently paved the way for the agricultural division to a successful future centred around its customers," Nüssel says.

Photo Caption: After 15 years in office, CEO Klaus Josef Lutz will hand over responsibility for the operational management of BayWa AG on 31 March 2023. The Supervisory Board of BayWa AG has appointed Marcus Pöllinger, a current member of the Group's Board of Management, as the new Chief Executive Officer of BayWa AG from 1 April 2023. Courtesy of BayWa AG / Enno Kapitza

Source: BayWa