Merkur Group founder Paul Gauselmann will retire from his role as chairman on 1 October, after 67 years at the helm. A board reshuffle will fill Gauselmann’s various roles within the group.
In his place, group CFO Lars Felderhoff will lead Merkur Group’s management board, with the help of vice-chairs Jürgen Stühmeyer and Manfred Stoffers who also hold responsibility for sales and marketing respectively.
Felderhoff has overseen the gaming machines group’s finances for six years, after spending part of his career at GTech (now IGT) and Merkur subsidiary, Metro Cash & Carry International.
In his earlier years at Merkur Group Felderhoff oversaw its commercial operations as commercial director for business arm ADP.
Additionally, Gauselmann’s role as head of the Merkur Group’s supervisory board and the family’s charitable foundation will be taken over by his son Michael Gauselmann.
“The time has come to entrust my life’s work to the younger generation,” Paul Gauselmann said of his retirement.
“I have consistently devoted my energy to the company’s welfare and, at the same time, to the benefit of our approximately 15,000 employees,
Gauselmann makes way for “the younger generation”
The younger Gauselmann joined the Merkur Group as a business administration graduate in 1982. He established the business’ Atronic subsidiary in 1993 and subsequently oversaw all its foreign operations.
For a decade, he has served as vice-chairman of the management board before becoming co-chairman of the board, sharing responsibilities with his father from 2004 to 2012.
From 2013, he was involved in the then Gauselmann Family Council and, from 2016, in the Gauselmann Family Foundation.
The organisation has supported social and cultural projects in the family’s home region of Minden-Luebbecke in Germany since 1999.
“I am thrilled that my son Michael is embracing this important responsibility and will contribute his international experience to our company,” Paul Gauselmann said.
“Reorganising the company by the time I turn 90 has been my wish for some time. We have accomplished this very well and are ideally positioned for the future,” he concluded.
