At its annual general meeting, Merck KGaA announced that following nine years as CEO of Merck KGaA Karl-Ludwig Kley has handed over the position to Stefan Oschmann.

Merck KGaA has changed tremendously during Kley’s term of office. Over the past 10 years, the company has invested more than EUR 30 billion ($34 billion) in acquisitions and has transformed from a classic supplier of pharmaceuticals and chemicals to a science and technology company. During this period, the company’s sales more than doubled from EUR 6.3 billion ($7.2 billion) in 2006 to EUR 12.8 billion ($14.7 billion) in 2015, and the number of employees has increased from 30,000 to 50,000.

The appointment of a new CEO is not the only change in the Executive Board of Merck KGaA. As already announced in January 2016, two new members will be joining the Executive Board: Udit Batra, head of the Life Science business sector, and Walter Galinat, head of the Performance Materials business sector. Bernd Reckmann a long-standing member of the Executive Board responsible for Life Science and Performance Materials, will retire on conclusion of the Annual General Meeting.

Source: Merck KGaA