voestalpine Management Board member Franz Rotter to retire in 2024

2023-08-28 |

After many successful years as a Member of the Management Board of voestalpine AG and Head of the High Performance Metals Division, Franz Rotter will not extend his current Management Board contract which runs to March 31, 2024, but will instead leave the company to enjoy his well-earned retirement. His successor on the Management Board will be decided at tomorrow’s Supervisory Board meeting of voestalpine AG.

After 43 intensive years at the company, I plan to end my active career in 2024. I am happy to be able to look back on a very successful time at the company. I have had the privilege not only of being part of the drive to internationalize the voestalpine High Performance Metals Division and to establish its presence on all five continents, to expand the successful aerospace and energy business segments and extend the global footprint of the division’s sales and service activities to 160 sites, but also to plan and realize the new special steel plant, a once-in-a-century project both for the Group and for the industry site in Styria. I would like to thank all the voestalpine employees, my colleagues on the Management Board, the Supervisory Board, the members of the Works Council, the customers, and my closest team for the excellent cooperation. I will be working at full power on behalf of our voestalpine through to March, and will ensure a seamless handover to my successor. Then I look forward to having more time with my family who have always been a wonderful support, and to spending more time with cultural activities and outdoors.

Franz Rotter, Member of the Management Board of voestalpine AG and Head of the High Performance Metals Division

“With his tireless commitment and entrepreneurial vision, Franz Rotter has played a key role in the development of voestalpine AG for more than two decades, 13 years of which were spent as a Member of the Management Board. The Group owes much to him for significant technological innovations, all made with a keen focus on long-term profitability. The successful integration of the Böhler Uddeholm Group and the construction and commissioning of the new special steel plant in Kapfenberg are key milestones, both in his own career and for the voestalpine Group. His successor will be decided at the next Supervisory Board meeting,” says Wolfgang Eder, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of voestalpine AG.

From Zeltweg to Kapfenberg and around the world

After graduating in mining and metallurgical machinery from the Montanuniversität Leoben, Franz Rotter started his career at voestalpine in Zeltweg in 1981. He held a variety of management positions within the Group before being appointed Spokesman for the Management Board of the former Voest-Alpine Bergtechnik in 1992. In 1997 he left the voestalpine Group to become a member of the Management Board of Iso-Holding AG, and in 1998 was appointed Chairman of the Management Board of ATB Austria Antriebstechnik AG. In 2000 he moved to take up a position on the Management Board of Aluminium Ranshofen Walzwerk Ges.m.b.H. In 2002, he became Spokesman for the Management Board of AMAG Rolling GmbH and Member of the Management Board of Austria Metall AG, becoming their Chief Operating Officer (COO) in 2005. In 2011 he returned to voestalpine as a Member of the Management Board where he established the High Performance Metals Division as a global leading supplier of high performance materials and components for the international aerospace, oil and natural gas, and toolmaking industries, supported by a unique global network of more than 160 sales and service sites. The first voestalpine Additive Manufacturing Center was opened in Düsseldorf in the fall of 2016, closely followed by new sites in Canada, Taiwan, Singapore, the USA, and China. In addition to investing in what is currently the world’s most advanced production technology for aerospace components, construction of the special steel plant in Kapfenberg with its cutting-edge technology marked a further milestone in extending the division’s global technology leadership. Once fully operational, the new plant will produce 205,000 tons of special steel for the most sophisticated industrial segments annually, and set the highest standards in digitalization and sustainability.

High Performance Metals Division

The voestalpine Group's High Performance Metals Division focuses on the production and processing of high-performance materials and customer-specific services such as heat treatment, high-tech surface treatment and additive manufacturing processes with increasing use of digital technologies. It offers its customers material availability and processing as well as local contacts through its unique sales and service network at around 140 locations worldwide. The division is the global market leader in tool steel and one of the leading suppliers of high-speed steels, valve steels and other products made from special steels, powder materials, nickel-based alloys, titanium and, if required, ready-to-install components based on additive manufacturing technologies. The division has set itself the goal of integrating all aspects of sustainability into its daily work. The most important customer segments are the automotive supply industry, oil and gas exploration, mechanical engineering, the consumer goods industry and aviation. In the 2022/23 financial year, the division generated sales of EUR 3.8 billion, of which around 50% was generated outside Europe, an operating result (EBITDA) of EUR 562 million and employed around 13,700 people worldwide.

The voestalpine Group

voestalpine is a globally leading steel and technology group with a unique combination of materials and processing expertise. voestalpine, which operates globally, has around 500 Group companies and locations in more than 50 countries on all five continents. It has been listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange since 1995. With its premium products and system solutions, voestalpine is a leading partner to the automotive and consumer goods industries, as well as to the aerospace and oil & natural gas industries. The company is also the global market leader in railway systems, tool steel, and special sections. voestalpine is committed to the global climate goals and has a clear plan for decarbonizing steel production with its greentec steel program. In the business year 2022/23, the Group generated revenue of EUR 18.2 billion, with an operating result (EBITDA) of EUR 2.5 billion; it has around 51,200 employees worldwide.

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