Ready for the future – Montan-Stiftung-Saar and the supervisory boards of SHS – Stahl-Holding-Saar, Aktien-Gesellschaft der Dillinger Hüttenwerke and Saarstahl AG appoint new executive management team for the transformation

• Stefan Rauber succeeds Dr. Karl-Ulrich Köhler as Chairman of the Management Board of SHS – Stahl-Holding-Saar GmbH & Co. KGaA (SHS) and Chairman of the Board of Management of Saarstahl AG (Saarstahl)and Aktiengesellschaft der Dillinger Hüttenwerke (Dillinger). Dr. Köhler is stepping down as planned on July 7, 2023, following his successful years in the Saarland steel industry. He remains a member of the Board of Trustees of Montan-Stiftung-Saar. Stefan Rauber is currently Managing Director of Montan-Stiftung-Saar, the trust which owns Saarland’s steel industry.

• Dr. Peter Maagh has been appointed Chief Technology and Production Officer of Dillinger and Saarstahl and Managing Director of SHS – Stahl-Holding-Saar. With his experience from the construction of major projects and energy management, Dr. Maagh will add his talents to the excellent steel expertise in the SHS companies, effective 1 August 2023. He succeeds Dr. Klaus Richter, who is retiring as planned when his contract expires due to age.

• Daniel Nicolaas Van der Hout will take over sales at Dillinger and Saarstahl as a member of the Board of Management and Managing Director of SHS effective 1 June 2023. Van der Hout has been responsible for Dillinger’s heavy plate sales since 2020 and has achieved significant successes for the company during this time.

• Rauber, Maagh and Van der Hout, together with Chief Financial Officer Markus Lauer, Chief Human Resources Officer and Labor Director Joerg Disteldorf and Jonathan Weber, Chief Transformation Officer, form the team that will shape and guide the Saarland steel industry in the challenging years ahead.

Ready for the future

To fulfill these criteria, the trust’s Executive Committee initiated a process several months ago that is concluding with the management team presented today, which will be responsible with the same cast of people for the management of SHS and the work of the Boards of Management at Dillinger and Saarstahl.

Stefan Rauber will assume the role of Chairman of the Management Board of SHS and Chairman of the Boards of Management of Dillinger and Saarstahl. Rauber was unanimously appointed by the Board of Trustees and the representatives of the supervisory boards of the trust and of ArcelorMittal as well as by the employee representatives. He has been a member of management of Montan-Stiftung-Saar for four years, has played a key role in transforming it into a genuine industrial and investment holding company and, as the long-time head of the energy and industry department in the Saarland Ministry of Economic Affairs, is also a well-versed authority on the Saarland steel industry. He is thus intimately familiar with the requirements of the companies from the inside out.

The decision to appoint Dr. Peter Maagh as Chief Technology and Production Officer represents a needed expansion of competencies. Mr. Maagh will be responsible in particular for plant engineering and for infrastructure as part of the conversion of production to green steel. He also has in-depth knowledge of the energy industry. The issue of energy will be decisive for the economic success of the steel companies in the Saar region. Dr. Maagh has been involved in the construction of major international industrial projects for more than two decades.

Daniel Van der Hout will be responsible for sales at Dillinger and Saarstahl for the first time as a member of the Board of Management. Van der Hout has been Sales Director at Dillinger for three years and prior to that spent about 20 years in various managerial positions at voestalpine. He achieved significant sales successes during his time at Dillinger that helped Dillinger grow into one of the world’s leading heavy plate manufacturers. He will now also contribute his expertise to Saarstahl.

Chief Financial Officer Markus Lauer, Joerg Disteldorf as Chief Human Resources Officer and Labor Director, and Jonathan Weber as Chief Transformation Officer will contribute their competencies to the new team as important building blocks and, together with their colleagues, will ensure the success of the decarbonization process.

Reinhard Störmer, Chairman of the Executive Committee of Montan-Stiftung-Saar and Chairman of the Supervisory Boards of SHS, Dillinger and Saarstahl, said of the personnel decisions: “It has always been the goal of the trust to achieve a generational transition and to find and establish a true team solution with new and existing strengths for the years to come. The challenges ahead can only be conquered as a team. The conditions for this are being created with the decisions announced today. All the necessary resolutions were passed unanimously in the responsible bodies. The co-determination bodies of the companies were extensively involved in the procedures. The express thanks of the Montan-Stiftung-Saar trust go to Dr. Karl-Ulrich Köhler for his work over the past two years. He has succeeded in putting the companies back on the road to success following difficult times and in thus laying the economic foundation for the transformation. I would also like to thank Dr. Klaus Richter for his many years of work. He has contributed significantly over these many years to continued development, especially that of Saarstahl.”

“The future focus of the Board of Management being aligned with the challenges ahead is a consistent and correct step. The economic foundation for the transformation of the Saarland steel industry has been created in recent years under difficult conditions. There must now be a change of generations so that the measures that now lie ahead can be implemented in the next few years by a strong team, stringently and without interruptions,” Dr. Karl-Ulrich Köhler said in his remarks on the decision of the Board of Trustees.

Stefan Rauber commented on his new role: “I would like to thank the Board of Trustees of Montan-Stiftung-Saar and the supervisory bodies of the companies for the trust they have placed in me. I look forward to working with the executive management team to develop the corporate and brand strategy with an eye to the future and to successfully accelerating the transformation of the steel industry in Saarland. This includes a clear commitment to the companies and the people who live and work here – but also the openness to chart a new course, to recognize innovations and actively promote them, and thus to open up new markets and customers for the future. Our mission is to make our companies two of the most modern and innovative steel producers in Europe. We will consistently pursue this goal together with our customers.”

The team presented today will now take responsibility for the Saarland steel industry and guide the companies through the extremely challenging period until the end of the decarbonization strategy. This includes a clear commitment to the companies and the people who live and work here. But it also includes the openness to chart a new course, to recognize and actively promote innovations, and thus to open up new markets and customers for the future. In the coming years, decisions will have to be made and implemented that will require a new dialogue with employees, customers, suppliers, and business partners, as well as with the public and policymakers. The newly formed management team being presented today is committed to this future.

Personal details:

Stefan Rauber (44) was previously Managing Director of the Montan-Stiftung-Saar trust. Prior to joining the trust, he served as department head at the Saarland Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labor, Energy and Transport until 2019.

Dr. Peter Maagh (54) has held leading positions in the energy industry, most recently at the international energy group Uniper SE. Dr. Maagh holds a doctorate in engineering.

Daniel Nicolaas Van der Hout (52) has headed heavy plate sales at Dillinger for three years. Prior to that he spent 20 years in leading positions at voestalpine. Van der Hout is Dutch and has lived in Saarland for three years.

Jonathan Weber (43) has been Chief Transformation Officer of Saarstahl and Dillinger and Managing Director of SHS since 2021. Prior to that he was with Salzgitter AG and was Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of thyssenkrupp Electrical Steel Group.

Markus Lauer (52) has been Chief Financial Officer of Dillinger and Saarstahl and Managing Director of SHS since 2021. He has been working for SHS for over 20 years and has been simultaneously managing the Finance departments of both Dillinger and Saarstahl since 2014.

Joerg Disteldorf (45) has been Chief Human Resources Officer and Labor Director of Dillinger and Saarstahl as well as Managing Director of SHS since 2020. Disteldorf has held various positions in the company since 2003. In his function as Labor Director, he enjoys the trust of the co-determination body thanks to many years of cooperation.

About the Montan-Stiftung-Saar foundation

Montan-Stiftung-Saar is the owner of SHS – Stahl-Holding-Saar GmbH & Co KGaA. It is thus the indirect owner of Saarstahl AG and the majority shareholder of AG der Dillinger Hüttenwerke (Dillinger). More information can be found at www.montan-stiftung-saar.de

About SHS – Stahl-Holding-Saar GmbH & Co. KGaA

SHS – Stahl-Holding-Saar GmbH & Co. KGaA is an operational management holding company with around 14,000 employees and a sales volume of roughly EUR 7 billion. As Germany’s third largest steel producer, its companies produce around 5 million tons of steel that is ready for shipment. It actively performs tasks for the two major steel companies in Saarland, Aktien-Gesellschaft der Dillinger Hüttenwerke (Dillinger) and Saarstahl AG. This has enabled both companies to work more closely together beyond the previously existing cooperative ventures and to have a stronger presence in their markets. The companies are working in unison to grow, to become more flexible and to increase competitiveness in their respective markets. The SHS Group (the parent company of Saarstahl) is wholly owned by the private-law industrial foundation Montan-Stiftung-Saar, which aims to strengthen and safeguard the two major steel companies on the Saar. For more information: www.stahl-holding-saar.de

About Dillinger and Saarstahl

Dillinger is a world leader in the manufacture of steel heavy plate for the steel construction, machine manufacturing, offshore, offshore wind power and line pipe sectors. Saarstahl is a worldleading manufacturer of premium wire rod and bar steel for the automotive industry, the construction industry, and for general machine manufacturing. Both companies belong to SHS – Stahl-Holding-Saar and want to contribute with innovative products and intelligent technologies – together with their customers – to finding answers to global challenges including climate protection, energy efficiency, mobility and safety. More information can be found at www.dillinger.de  or www.saarstahl.de