By Christoph Steitz and Tom Käckenhoff
FRANKFURT/DUESSELDORF (Reuters) -Thyssenkrupp CEO Miguel Lopez has received a new five-year contract, the German conglomerate said on Friday, also setting a summer date for an extraordinary general meeting to let shareholders approve the planned listing of its defence unit.
Thyssenkrupp did not say whether the vote on the contract extension until May 31, 2031 had required the casting vote of Supervisory Board Chairman Siegfried Russwurm, after his deputy earlier this week announced opposition to the plan.
A spokesperson for Thyssenkrupp declined to comment when asked whether Russwurm’s casting vote, which counts twice when the 20-member supervisory board arrives at a stalemate, was used.
Juergen Kerner, deputy chief of German union IG Metall, on Wednesday had said he would vote against the contract extension, citing “fundamental distrust” and saying Lopez had failed to deliver a promised turnaround of Thyssenkrupp’s steel unit.
“The group is undergoing a challenging and urgently needed transformation process, in which reliability, leadership and clear priorities are of the essence,” Russwurm said.
“The extension of Miguel Lopez’s contract is an expression of our confidence in his leadership and our conviction that clear orientation and continuity along the chosen path are crucial to the further progress and future of Thyssenkrupp.”
Thyssenkrupp also said shareholders would be voting on the planned spin-off of a 49% stake in its warship unit Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems on August 8, confirming that the separate listing was planned to take place by the end of the year.
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz and Tom Kaeckenhoff; Editing by Friederike Heine, Rachel More and David Evans)
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