The armaments manager is to take over the management of Hensoldt in the coming year.
(Photo: Thales Germany)
Dusseldorf The head of Thales Germany, Oliver Dörre, will succeed Thomas Müller as the head of the Hensoldt armaments company. The supervisory board of the sensor specialist decided that, the company announced on Tuesday. The 53-year-old is to join the board of directors from January 1, 2024 and then probably take over the top position on April 1.
The provider of sensors and defense electronics, in which the federal government holds around a quarter of the shares, is currently benefiting greatly from the increased defense spending worldwide as a result of the war in Ukraine. Hensoldt has a record number of orders.
The share price has almost tripled since the beginning of 2022. On Monday, the company, which was spun off from Airbus in 2017, rose from the SDax stock index to the MDax.
With the current decision, the company wants to regulate the successor to the 64-year-old Müller at an early stage. Dörre takes over a few months before his predecessor’s contract expires. In a transition phase, both should work closely together.
Hensoldt has found an experienced armaments manager in Dörre: he has been the German head of the French armaments group Thales for a good two years. He had previously been responsible for sales and marketing there since the end of 2016. Another station in his career was the Austrian company Frequentis, which produces air traffic control systems and software for security authorities. From 1988 to 2010, Dörre was a general staff officer in the Luftwaffe.
Hensoldt board has already been restructured
Müller is the “ideal candidate” at a time “in which we see a new defense policy environment with an increasing focus on innovative capabilities such as intelligent sensors, electronic warfare, networked solutions and analytics,” said Hensoldt supervisory board chairman Johannes Huth, according to a statement. Dörre has an “excellent track record of developing strong product pipelines” and is experienced in “bringing innovations to market”.
Hensoldt had already made major changes to the board last year. Christian Ladurner took over the position of chief financial officer, and former Airbus manager Lars Immisch the role of head of human resources. The board also includes Celia Pelaz, who took over as chief strategy officer in July 2021.
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