Niels Due Jensen retires from his position as CEO and Group President
Grundfos' CEO and Group President, Niels Due Jensen, will turn 60 in the spring of 2003 and as a consequence of that he has decided to retire from his position. The Board of Directors of Grundfos Management A/S have decided to appoint Executive Vice President, Jens Jørgen Madsen (52), as Group President and CEO of Grundfos Management A/S from 1 January 2003.
Jens Jørgen Madsen was selected by the Board to succeed me because of his qualities as a leader, which he has clearly demonstrated throughout his more than 25 years of employment at Grundfos.
He knows how to listen to customers as well as employees, he thinks strategically and acts accordingly and, most importantly, he represents the values and the culture that have made Grundfos the world's leading pump manufacturer, says Mr. Niels Due Jensen.
In his new position Mr. Madsen will be responsible for a corporation with 11,000 staff around the world, distributed in 58 companies in 43 countries, and with a turnover of DKK 10.2 billion (€ 1.36 billion) in 2001.
With an MBA from the Aarhus Business School in Denmark he came to Grundfos in 1975 as a systems consultant and he later became a systems manager. In 1985 Mr. Madsen was appointed Vice President for Finances and since 1991 he has been Group Executive Vice President and member of Group Management, his responsibilities being Group Finances, Group IT, Corporate Planning, and Group Marketing. In 1996 his area of responsibility was expanded to include Grundfos Finance A/S, the Group's internal bank, through the appointment as Chairman of the Board. Mr. Madsen is married to Mrs. Ellen Marie Madsen and has got two adult sons.
Since 1985, Mr. Madsen has been Chairman of the Board of a number of Grundfos sales companies. To ensure optimum output of the Group's acquisitions Mr. Madsen has been actively involved in this area from the primary stages of negotiations to the post-acquisition process. Today, in addition, he is the Chairman of the Board of the German sales company, which is the Group's largest. He is also the Chairman of the Board of the very important Eastern European sales region and of the two acquired companies based in Italy, DAB Pumps and Leader Pump Group.
Mr. Due Jensen is expected to succeed Mr. Lars Kolind as Chairman of the Board of Grundfos Management A/S in connection with the annual shareholders' meeting in April 2003, and Mr. Due Jensen will thereby become Group Chairman of the Board. Mr. Kolind is anticipated to carry on as Member of the Board of Grundfos Management A/S.
Together with his wife, Mrs. Minna Due Jensen, Mr. Due Jensen will continue to work as an ambassador in relation to the Grundfos companies around the world where Mr. and Mrs. Due Jensen will focus on meeting the employees, hereby contributing to strengthening the Group's corporate culture which is so rich in tradition and has a unique set of values.
From the turn of the year, Mr. Due Jensen will become chairman of the Group's Research and Technology Committee, in which position he will take part in ensuring that Grundfos maintains its historic position as the world's leading pump manufacturer technologically and with regard to its products.
Source: Grundfos Holding A/S
