Leverkusen, Germany -- Werner Wenning, who has been Bayer AG ceo since 2002, is to extend his contract by eight months to 30 Sept 2010, a few weeks before his 64th birthday.
Bayer's board has appointed Netherlands-born Dr Marijn Dekkers (51), currently president and ceo of US laboratory equipment manufacturer Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., to succeed Wenning from 1 Oct 2010. Dekkers will join the Bayer management board on 1 Jan 2010.
Dekkers will, in a transition phase, serve as ceo of Bayer HealthCare, succeeding Arthur Higgins, who will leave the company during the first half of 2010 for personal reasons.
The present Bayer chief financial officer Klaus Kühn will take early retirement, and will be replaced by Werner Baumann (46), currently a member of both the board of management and executive committee of Bayer HealthCare. Baumann will also join the Bayer management board on 1 Jan 2010.
"Mr Wenning has very successfully steered our company for the past seven years. We are grateful to him for consenting to extend his contract of service, thereby ensuring both continuity and an adequate period of transition in these economically difficult times," said Dr Manfred Schneider, chairman of the Bayer Supervisory Board. "The Supervisory Board believes that, in Dr Dekkers, it has found a highly qualified successor to steer the fortunes of our company. His international experience, goal-oriented approach and proven management skills are very convincing qualities."
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