Ahlen, Germany, 3 November 2011. The new year will see a new management team in place at Leifeld Metal Spinning AG, Ahlen. As of 1 January 2012, Gerhard Glanz will take over as CEO of the company, which is a member of the Georg Kofler Group. His predecessor, Holger Hansen, will chair the Supervisory Board. Oliver Reimann will take up the newly created post of Chief Sales Officer (CSO). At the same time, CTO Werner Hütter will retire. Leifeld Metal Spinning AG is a world leader in the development and manufacture of machine tools for chipless metal forming.

Dr Georg Kofler, main shareholder in Leifeld Metal Spinning AG and a member of the Supervisory Board, said, “Holger Hansen has managed Leifeld superbly in recent years, successfully modernising the company. We are proud to have gained the services of Gerhard Glanz, a well-known leader in the engineering industry, for the further development of our company. Under his experienced leadership as CEO, management will ensure that Leifeld continues to innovate and increase its global market share.”

Future Leifeld CEO Gerhard Glanz, 52, is regarded in the engineering industry as a successful manager and entrepreneur. He last worked as managing partner with a 20% shareholding in Union Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH, Chemnitz, Europe’s oldest machine tool manufacturer. Under his management, Union earned significant profits – even in the crisis years of 2009 and 2010. From 2004 to 2008 he held various management positions at the Austrian EMCO Group, after restructuring it successfully as Chief Operating Officer. From June 2006 he was responsible as CEO for sales, marketing and all operational areas, including research and development. During this time, the EMCO Group grew into a global player in the machine tools industry. Glanz had previously been, inter alia, managing director of Wertheim, the Austrian safe, escalator and lift manufacturer.

After four successful years leading the business, Leifeld Metal Spinning AG’s current CEO, Holger Hansen, 36, is moving to the company’s Supervisory Board, which he will chair. The other members of the Supervisory Board are Leifeld owner Dr Georg Kofler and Christian Unterseer. After being taken over by the Georg Kofler Group, Hansen successfully restructured the Westphalian engineering company and led it through the period of economic crisis. As of January 2012, he will return to play an active role  managing the Kofler Group’s equity interests.

From 1 January 2012, Oliver Reimann, 40, Head of Sales at Leifeld since April 2009, is taking over the newly created post of CSO. He has developed international sales and is also Executive Director of the subsidiary Leifeld Machinery Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. in China. Reimann was previously in charge of the strategic development of international sales at Studer Mikrosa GmbH and Studer Schaudt GmbH, Schleifring. He began his career as an industrial economist at Unicorn Indimant GmbH (part of the Saint Gobain Group), later moving to Tyrolit GmbH, a Swarovski Group company.

After 22 years at Leifeld, Chief Technical Officer Werner Hütter, 60, is taking a  well-earned retirement. Hütter, who is considered an expert in flow-forming machines and has developed many patented solutions, will continue in an advisory capacity at Leifeld, supporting the research and development department with his deep expertise. “We would like to thank Werner Hütter for over two decades of tireless input and innovation”, Dr Georg Kofler said. “His ideas live on in many Leifeld machines. The entire team wishes him all the best for this new phase in his life.”