KONECRANES PLC INSIDE INFORMATION
October 7, 2019 at 09:15 EET
Konecranes appoints Rob Smith as President and CEO
The Board of Directors of Konecranes Plc has appointed Rob Smith as President and CEO of Konecranes effective February 1, 2020. As of today, the company's CFO, Teo Ottola, who also serves as Deputy CEO, will be acting as the interim CEO until Rob Smith starts in the position.
"Konecranes has concluded the integration following the MHPS acquisition that took place almost three years ago. The company is now ready for the next phase in its development, and for that I am pleased to extend a warm welcome to Rob Smith, who is a global leader with a track record in achieving market leadership positions through innovative business strategies, deep expertise in digitalization and strong customer focus,” says Konecranes’ Chairman of the Board Christoph Vitzthum.
Rob Smith joins Konecranes from AGCO Corporation, where his latest position has been Senior Vice President & General Manager, Europe and Middle East. Prior to this, he has worked in business leadership roles in TRW Automotive, Tyco Electronics and Bombardier Transportation, among others. He is 54 years old and is a dual citizen of both Germany and the United States. Further details, including a photo, are available in his CV attached to this release.
"It will be a great privilege to lead Konecranes on its path of profitable growth. Konecranes is a global industrial company with committed, talented people and impressive technology. I am excited about working with an exceptional team of leaders to take this special company and our customers’ businesses to new levels of achievement, success and growth," Rob Smith said upon his appointment.
With this change, the current President and CEO, Panu Routila, will leave Konecranes Group effective today. “Panu Routila has successfully led Konecranes through a major transition on the company’s growth path, and on behalf of the Board I want to warmly thank Panu for his work to make this happen," says Christoph Vitzthum.
"I am proud to have led Konecranes through one of the key phases of its history, the acquisition, integration and improvement in profitability. I want to thank the Board and all my colleagues for years of excellent cooperation and I wish Konecranes all the best in the future,” Panu Routila said.
With today’s appointment, Konecranes has decided to postpone its Capital Markets Day, scheduled for November 21, 2019, in London. A new date will be communicated in due course after the new CEO has started in his position.
Press conference
An analyst and press conference will be held today, October 7, 2019, at Hotel Scandic Simonkenttä, meeting room Mansku (address Simonkatu 9, Helsinki) at 11:00 am (EET). The conference will be attended by the Chairman of the Board Christoph Vitzthum, the future President and CEO Rob Smith and the CFO and Interim CEO Teo Ottola.
Joining via webcast
A live webcast of the conference will begin at 11:00 am (EET) at: https://qsb.webcast.fi/k/konecranes/konecranes_2019_1007_pressconference/
Joining via teleconference
The teleconference can be joined via the following link: http://bit.ly/KonecranesConference
The link is accessible from a smart phone or a computer. Participant Passcode: 481764
One can also attend the press conference by calling one of the following phone numbers:
Location Phone number
Denmark +45 35 15 80 48
Finland +358 (0)9 7479 0360
France +33 (0)1 76 77 22 73
Germany +49 (0)89 2030 31236
Italy +39 06 8750 0722
Netherlands +31 (0) 20 721 9250
Norway +47 2100 2613
Sweden +46 (0)8 5033 6573
Switzerland +41 (0)44 580 7230
United Kingdom +44 (0)330 336 9104
United States +1 323-794-2442
KONECRANES PLC
Eero Tuulos
Vice President, Investor Relations
FURTHER INFORMATION
Rob Smith, future President and CEO of Konecranes Plc
Christoph Vitzthum, Chairman of the Board, Konecranes Plc
Call back requests: Virpi Vuori, Executive Assistant, Investor Relations, Konecranes Plc, tel. +358 20 427 2960
Konecranes is a world-leading group of Lifting Businesses™, serving a broad range of customers, including manufacturing and process industries, shipyards, ports and terminals. Konecranes provides productivity enhancing lifting solutions as well as services for lifting equipment of all makes. In 2018, Group sales totaled EUR 3.16 billion. The Group has 16,100 employees in 50 countries. Konecranes shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki (symbol: KCR).
DISTRIBUTION
Nasdaq Helsinki
Major media
www.konecranes.com
