Change of leadership at Implenia
Dietlikon, 4 July 2018 – As part of its long-term planning process, the Board of Directors has appointed André Wyss as the successor to Anton Affentranger. The 51-year-old Swiss will take over at the helm of the leading construction and construction services company on 1 October 2018. André Wyss has many years of international management experience involving various business models and complex projects. Together with the Board of Directors, the Management Team and the company’s employees, the new CEO will continue to develop Implenia’s strategy in order to add value for its customers, shareholders and employees. Now his successor has been appointed, Anton Affentranger is to step down as CEO on 30 September 2018. Implenia would like to thank him for his outstanding and formative work at the company.
In 2016, Anton Affentranger informed the Board of Directors of his intention to step down as CEO around two years from then. As a result, the Board of Directors initiated a succession planning process some time ago.
New CEO with many years of international management experience
The new CEO André Wyss has decades of international management experience in a variety of roles. Until spring 2018, he was a member of Novartis’ Executive Committee. As the President of Novartis Operations, André Wyss was responsible for all of Novartis’ manufacturing, shared services and corporate affairs, with almost 40,000 employees worldwide. He was also Country President of Novartis Switzerland.
Anton Affentranger helped shape Implenia as a person and with great success
The departing CEO Anton Affentranger was one of the key figures involved in founding and developing Implenia. He was Chairman of the Board of Directors from 2006 to 2011, before assuming the CEO function. Based on the company’s strong domestic market in Switzerland, Anton Affentranger developed an international strategy, which focused on Germany and Austria as well as the Scandinavian countries. This strategy involved a number of notable takeovers: Sulzer Immobilien AG in 2009, Betonmast Anlegg in 2010, Bilfinger Construction in 2015 and Bilfinger Hochbau in 2017.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors, Hans Ulrich Meister, would like to thank the departing CEO for his many years of successful service: “Over the last 12 years, Anton Affentranger has really helped shape Implenia like no other, and has made an exceptional contribution to the company. During his time here, Implenia’s revenues rose from two billion to around four billion francs and the company is now extremely well positioned both within Switzerland and abroad. Anton Affentranger set key milestones in many areas, including sustainability, digitalization and occupational safety.”
André Wyss to leverage potential offered by Implenia
With the appointment of André Wyss, Implenia is gaining a highly qualified CEO with outstanding strategic, operational and personal skills.
André Wyss explained: “After more than 30 years at Novartis, I wanted to take on a new challenge. I am very much looking forward to being able to soon leverage the great potential that Implenia has together with the Board of Directors, the Management Team and our employees.”
Until spring 2018, André Wyss worked for Novartis in a variety of roles across the world. His career took him from an apprentice in plant & lab via many different roles into the Executive Committee. André Wyss occupied many positions, including Head Global R&D Controlling Novartis Pharma, Head Drug Product Manufacturing Europe as well as various Country and Regional Head roles, including in the US, the Group's largest market.
He was most recently the President of Novartis Operations, where he oversaw all of Novartis’ manufacturing, shared services such as real estate and infrastructure, procurement, IT, HR and accounting as well as corporate affairs. Under his leadership, the company defined and implemented numerous strategies and transformation plans, which significantly boosted the position and profitability of Novartis. In this regard, the optimization of various processes was key to the company’s success.
Strategic and operational development to continue at Implenia
“André Wyss has many years of international management experience with complex business models and projects. At Novartis, he also led a number of important construction and infrastructure projects,” explains Chairman of the Board of Directors, Hans Ulrich Meister. “His winning personality and international management experience makes our new CEO the ideal person to continue Implenia's strategic and operational development.”
Contact for investors and analysts:
Serge Rotzer, Head of Treasury & Investor Relations
Beat Fellmann, CFO<br/>Tel. +41 58 474 07 34<br/>serge.rotzer@implenia.com
Contact for media:
Urs Knapp, media spokesperson for the Implenia Board of Directors
Tel: +41 44 266 68 45
Conference Call for Analysts and Investors
Implenia will organize a conference call for analysts and investors on Wednesday, 4 July 2018 at 7.30 a.m. (CET). Questions can be asked at the end of the conference. Please register ten minutes before the beginning of the conference. You can dial in using the following details: Dial-in number: +41 58 262 07 22. Access code: 384817
Implenia is Switzerland’s leading construction and construction services company. It also has strong positions in the German, Austrian and Scandinavian infrastructure markets. Established in 2006, Implenia can look back on around 150 years of construction tradition. It brings the expertise of its highly skilled construction units together under the roof of a company active throughout Europe. With its integrated business model and specialists operating in all areas of construction, the Group can manage a building project through its entire lifecycle and deliver work that is economical, integrated and customer-centric. The focus is on striking a sustainable balance between financial success and social and environmental responsibility. Implenia, with its headquarters in Dietlikon near Zurich, employs around 10,000 people throughout Europe and posted revenue of around CHF 3.9 billion in 2017. The company is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (IMPN, CH0023868554). More information can be found at www.implenia.com.
