Change at the top in Adidas. The German company, one of the international leaders in sportswear, has appointed the former CEO of Henkel, Karsten Rorsted, as the new CEO effective October 2016, replacing Herbert Hainer. The news immediately appealed to the markets: on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange the share has come to gain more than 10%, while around 17 pm it still rose by 6,67% a €89,610 per share.
Kasper will join the management board of the German company from August 1st and will become in effect the new CEO of Adidas from 1 October in order to ensure that the transition between the two CEOs is as smooth as possible. Igor Landau, chairman of the Supervisory Board of Adidas, underlined that "Rorsted is the perfect candidate to succeed Hainer", as "he has extensive managerial experience at an international level, having held positions in high standing companies such as Oracle, Compaq and Hewlett Packard. Rorsted successfully led Henkel for eight years, a Dax company which, just like Adidas, is known for its growth, internationalization and sustainability".
On the one hand, the appointment surprised the market because Hainer's contract expired at the end of March 2017, but on the other it effectively eliminated the dissatisfaction of many investors with the work of the now former CEO. “We welcome the appointment of Rorsted as Hainer's successor and hope that the long drought for Adidas' profitability has come to an end,” commented Ingo Speich, manager of Union Investment, asset manager among the group's top twenty shareholders German thanks to a stake of approximately 1,2% of the capital.
