Rik Dobbelaere appointed new Chief Executive Officer of BEWi

16-05-2018

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Rik Dobbelaere appointed new Chief Executive Officer of BEWi

Press release 2018-05-16 at 2 p.m. CET

The Board of BEWi Group AB (publ) (“BEWi”) has appointed Rik Dobbelaere as CEO of BEWi effective immediately. He succeeds Christian Bekken, who will take on the new position as Director Business Development in BEWi.


Rik Dobbelaere, born in 1954, is a Belgian citizen with significant experience in general management positions with global industrial companies. Most recently he was the CEO of Synbra Holding B.V., a position he was appointed to in 2008. Rik Dobbelaere has a degree in Engineering and an MBA, both from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. He started his career in 1979 with Raychem Corporation, a manufacturer of polymer components for industrial clients using an innovative radiation-based technology, where he held numerous general management positions until 1998. He then joined the Transportation Division of Bombardier as Operations Director Europe. In 2001, Bombardier acquired Adtranz, the transportation Division of ABB, and Rik Dobbelaere was appointed Division President Intercity and High Speed Trains. In 2003 he assumed global leadership of the Services Division.

Gunnar Syvertsen, Chairman of the Board of BEWi, said: “Following BEWi’s acquisition of Synbra, the Board is convinced that successful integration will be based on commitment from both organizations. Rik’s vast experience in building a successful European group will enable us to merge two strong companies and create Europe’s preferred partner for particle foam products.

The board is also pleased with Christian Bekken’s, decision to take on the new position as Director Business Development. Christian has been instrumental in establishing BEWi as the leading full-line supplier in the Nordic countries and in taking the strategic decision to expand BEWi’s market reach and offer a broad product range, thereby ensuring a continued successful business scope.”

Christian Bekken joined BEWi in 2002, was appointed CEO in 2014, and will take on the position as Director Business Development effective immediately.

For further information, please contact:
Gunnar Syvertsen, Chairman of BEWi Group AB, Tel: +47 901 87 675
Marie Danielsson, CFO BEWi Group AB, Tel: +46 70 661 00 47

The information is such that BEWi Group AB (publ) is required to disclose in accordance with the EU Market Abuse Regulation (596/2014/EU). The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out above, at 2 p.m. CET on 16 May 2018.

BEWi Group manages and controls the entire chain from the manufacture of raw materials to finished products for the construction, packaging, and technical packaging industries. We invest in new techniques and development of innovative environmentally sound products, which creates value across the chain. As the market continues to grow, BEWi will also grow, both organically as well as through acquisitions in order to create positive synergies around purchases, raw material management, marketing information, customer focus, efficient production and administration.

BEWi Group is owned to 51.6% by Frøja Invest AS, to 21.4% by Gjelsten Holding AS, to 25.4% by Verdane Capital Advisors and to 1.6% by Senior Executives.