BENTELER Group: Dr. Peter Laier named Chief Operating Officer (COO)

In the newly created position as Chief Operating Officer (COO), Dr. Peter Laier will take over the managerial responsibilities from CEO of the BENTELER Group, Hubertus Benteler.  In addition, he and the Executive Board will guide the further strategic development of the corporate group.

Hubertus Benteler, CEO of the BENTELER Group, said, "We are pleased to have been able to acquire Dr. Peter Laier as a Member of the Executive Board; he brings with him many years of extensive international management experience in the automotive industry."

BENTELER International AG thereby expands their previously two-seated Executive Board with one additional function. Hubertus Benteler will stay with the company as CEO and Boris Gleißner as Chief Finance Officer (CFO). The company had announced in the summer of this year that a third Executive Board appointment would be filled. Following the successful development by the corporate group in recent years to meet changing customer and competitive requirements, the BENTELER Group wants to prepare for a smooth leadership transition in an orderly process.

Dr. Peter Laier is leaving his position as Chief Technology Officer and Member of the Executive Board at OSRAM AG for the BENTELER Group. Prior to that, he held various management positions for automotive supplier Continental AG, including Head of Business Unit Hydraulic Brake Systems and Head of Business Unit Chassis Components. He has acquired experience abroad, including as CEO of Continental Automotive Corp., Japan, and as Head of the Asian Region of the Chassis & Safety Division of Continental AG. He graduated from the University of Stuttgart, where he studied mechanical engineering.

Dr. Peter Laier is married, and lives with his wife and two children in Upper Bavaria, Germany.

About the BENTELER Group

With about 30,000 employees and 170 locations in 38 countries, the BENTELER Group stands for excellent material, manufacturing and technology expertise in the areas of Automotive, Steel/Tube and Distribution. Under the strategic management holding BENTELER International AG, the three business divisions BENTELER Automotive, BENTELER Steel/Tube and BENTELER Distribution are organized legally independent. As a family-owned business in the fourth generation, the company generated revenue of 7.5 billion euros in 2012. Continual progress by new materials, technologies and products as well as long-term profitable growth are the pillars of the more than 135 years of success of the BENTELER Group.

Further information at www.benteler.de