By Stuart Thomson

Andreas Wiele is to succeed Werner Brandt as chairman of the supervisory board of German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 when the latter departs next May. Rainer Beaujean, chairman of the company’s executive board is meanwhile to become CEO with a new five-year contract.

Brandt, 67, decided not to stand for re-election at the Annual General Meeting to be held on May 5 next year after eight years and two election periods as chairman.

Executive chairman Beaujean’s contract will be extended for five years with effect from July 1, 2022, with a change of role to that of CEO.

The supervisory board has indicated it intends to elect Wiele, 59, formerly a member of the executive board of Axel Springer SE and someone seen as a proven transformation expert, as its new chairman and Brandt’s successor.

Wiele left Axel Springer in 2020 to become a consultant with KKR, a one-time co-owner of ProSiebenSat.1 which reacquired a 5.2 per cent stake last year. That move set off merger speculation, but KKR then sold the bulk of the stake off a few months later.

Wiele will be a court-appointed member of the supervisory board from February 13, 2022. He succeeds Adam Cahan, 49, who has resigned to take up a new role as CEO of PAX Labs, Inc., a technology company in California.

The supervisory board plans to recommend confirming the appointment of Wiele at the AGM. He would then be elected as successor to Brandt in the chairman position.

The former CEO of rival RTL Group, Bert Habets meanwhile is also to be proposed for election as another new member of the supervisory board.

In other changes, Ralf Peter Gierig, currently Deputy CFO, will become the new Group CFO of ProSiebenSat.1 Media effective January 1.

“I am very pleased that I depart from the Supervisory Board with such a strong team set-up in place. With Dr. Andreas Wiele and Bert Habets, we have gained two very distinguished media experts for the Supervisory Board, both of whom have also successfully managed many transformation processes,” said Brandt.

“The extension of Rainer Beaujean’s contract and his appointment as Group Chief Executive Officer is the logical consequence of his very successful work on the Executive Board. Together with the Executive Board team, Mr. Beaujean has led ProSiebenSat.1 safely through the Corona crisis and implemented the strategic realignment with impressive consistency. Ralf Peter Gierig, a longtime expert on the company and an accomplished financial expert who has also made a name for himself in the capital market as a trusted contact, is taking over the Finance division,” he said.