Change in Leadership of Röchling Group Advisory Board

01-17-2011

Change in Leadership of Röchling Group Advisory Board

Mannheim, Germany, January 17, 2011 ....The Röchling Group’s most senior supervisory body now has a new Chairman: Johannes Freiherr von Salmuth (44) has assumed the position from the previous Chairman, Klaus Greinert. Mr. Greinert has retired from the position in accordance with the Articles of Association upon reaching his 70th birthday.

Mr. Greinert has held many positions during his more than 30 years with the Röchling Group, including those of Managing Director, Chief Representative, and acting as a member of various boards. He had been Chairman of the Advisory Board since 2000. Within the Röchling Group, the Advisory Board is responsible for all decision making with respect to human resources and corporate strategy.

This change in leadership of the Advisory Board completes the handover to the next generation at Röchling, a process commenced as early as two years previously. At that time, Freiherr von Salmuth, who has been a member of Röchling’s supervisory bodies since 2000, had already been appointed Chairman of the Shareholder Board, the main executive council of the Röchling family shareholders. Johannes Freiherr von Salmuth and the new Vice Chairman of the Advisory Board, Dr. Peter Thürmel (46), are both descendents of the Company’s founder, Friedrich Röchling, meaning that the sixth generation of the Röchling family has now taken over leadership of the Röchling Group. The Röchling family has accompanied the Company, which today has total sales of one billion euros and approximately 6,000 employees, closely and continuously throughout its 188-year history.

In addition to his activities on behalf of the Röchling Group, Freiherr von Salmuth, who has a graduate degree in macroeconomics (Dipl. Volkswirt), has also been a member of the Executive Board at Aluminiumwerke-Wutöschingen AG & Co. since 2002, a company located in southern Baden-Württemberg that specializes in aluminum processing. It has annual sales of around EUR 180 million.