FRANKFURT-- Lanxess AG shares jumped Monday on news that its
chief executive Axel Heitmann will leave the chemicals company at
the end of February, to be replaced by Matthias Zachert, currently
chief financial officer at Merck KGaA.
Mr. Zachert's appointment marks his return to the company where
he served as CFO from 2004 to 2011. He will take over by May
15.
"Lanxess is facing significant challenges, for example in terms
of market capacities and business portfolio," Lanxess said late
Sunday. "Therefore, the supervisory board believes it is the right
time to hand over responsibility to a new leadership in order to
overcome these challenges," it said.
Lanxess stock gained 9% in early trading Monday while Merck
shares fell 11%.
UBS analysts said Mr. Zachert had a "resounding reputation" in
capital markets.
"We deem Mr. Zachert extremely fit to manage the complexity of
chemical supply chains, use modern data systems to drive pricing
and cash flow, spot cyclical trends early and prudently allocate
capital," UBS said.
Lanxess CFO Bernhard Duettmann will be responsible for CEO
duties until Mr. Zachert joins.
Mr. Zachert's departure is likely to be a blow for Merck. In his
three years there he played a key role in restructuring and making
cost-cuts that led to a 30% share price gain last year.
Lanxess shares, on the other hand, have been under selling
pressure for some time. Ahead of Monday's gains they had fallen
more than 55% in the past year.
UBS described the management change as "better late than
never."
Merck CEO Karl-Ludwig Kley said Mr. Zachert's "transparent
capital market communication has clearly helped boost investor
trust in our company." Merck's board will decide on a successor "in
due course," it said.
Write to Neetha Mahadevan at neetha.mahadevan@wsj.com
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