Adidas Announces New CEO, Stocks Surge

Jan 18 Adidas named Henkel Chief Executive Kasper Rorsted as its new CEO, replacing Herbert Hainer, who has headed the sportswear maker since 2001 and is the longest-serving boss of a German blue-chip.

“After a two-month transition period, Herbert Hainer will relinquish his executive board mandate effective September 30, 2016”.

Adidas said Rorsted would begin as an ordinary member of the company’s executive board – an entity that operates separately from a company’s supervisory board under German corporate law – effective August 1.

Adidas shares rose 5.4 per cent to €88.52 (£67.71/$96.47), while Henkel shares fell 3.4 per cent to €77.88 (£59.56/$84.86).

“Effective May 1, Hans Van Bylen has been appointed as successor of Kasper Rorsted, who has decided not to renew his current contract beyond 2017”.

Roland Auschel and Eric Liedtke, who were both appointed in 2014 as head of global sales and head of global brands for Adidas, respectively, were cited in reports as potential internal candidates for the chief executive role.

“He has extensive worldwide management experience, having held positions with high-calibre companies such as Oracle, Compaq and Hewlett Packard.

For eight years, Kasper Rorsted has very successfully headed up Henkel, a DAX company that just like the adidas Group is known for its growth, internationality and sustainability”.

Henkel shares dropped almost 6% early Monday.

Danish-born Rorsted, 53, said as recently as November that Henkel’s growth ambitions would keep him at the helm of the company until the end of 2017.

Adidas noted that under Hainer’s leadership, its group sales have tripled, net income and the number of employees have quadrupled, and the value of the company has increased from 3 billion euros to 18 billion euros. He will be replaced as Henkel CEO by Hans Van Bylen, a board member charged with running the company’s beauty care business, on May 1.