Belgium: Etex has announced that from 1 January 2015, a new leader will take the helm. Fons Peeters, the current CEO of Etex, will retire at the end of 2014 after 41 years with Etex, the last four of which he was CEO. Paul Van Oyen, currently the head of the Promat Division, will take over his role.
"On behalf of the board of directors, I would like to thank Fons Peeters for his immense dedication during his long career at Etex," said chairman of the board, Jean-Louis de Cartier de Marchienne. "His exceptional guidance proved to be an important added value for our company and ought to be an inspiration to all of us, since he helped to shape Etex as we know it today."
On 1 January 2015 Paul Van Oyen will take up the position. Before joining Etex, he worked for several years as a researcher and technologist. His career at Etex spans 24 years, during which period he gained both expertise and experience in different regions and different divisions of the company. Business development manager and head of the Eastern European business are some of his past roles. He has been developing Promat, Etex's high-performance insulation and passive fire protection division, since 2011. Paul Van Oyen has been appointed until the end of 2021 with the mission of pursuing further Etex's ambitious long-term strategy, which focuses on both internal and external growth.
"In order to trigger organic growth, Etex will maintain its capital expenditure programme with yearly investments of about Euro200m," said Jean-Louis de Cartier de Marchienne. "At the same time, the group will further reduce its debt, aiming at a debt ratio below two, which should open up future growth possibilities. In light of these ambitious plans, the board of directors and Etex's 17,500 employees wish Paul Van Oyen every success in guiding Etex on a path of continuous growth."
