Pascal Juery will take over the top job at the Belgium-headquartered business from incumbent Christian Reinaudo on 1 February.
Juery, who is French, has more than three decades’ of experience in chemicals and advanced materials. He joins from €10.3bn (£8.77bn) turnover chemicals and materials group Solvay, where he held a variety of senior management roles, most recently as special adviser to the group’s CEO.
Solvay’s products include speciality chemicals and coatings used in the printing and packaging industries.
Juery is also a board member at innovative recycling company Carbios, which is developing technology around the biodegration and biorecyling of plastics.
Agfa chairman Klaus Röhrig said: “We are happy to welcome Pascal Juery as the new CEO at a decisive moment in the Group’s transformation process. His previous experience in the executive management of an international company in the middle of a transformation journey will enable him to lead Agfa-Gevaert in its fast-changing markets.”
Juery said he was “proud and thrilled” to be joining the Agfa-Gevaert group.
“Agfa-Gevaert is a leading technology group in graphics and medical imaging that has successfully re invented itself in the digital era,” he said.
“I look forward to helping write a new chapter in Agfa story, together with the talented teams of the group, so as to deliver sustainable and profitable growth. I am impatient to meet the teams and spend time understanding businesses, interacting with stakeholders.”
Reinaudo has been CEO since May 2010, when he stepped up in a “difficult period” for the group following the financial crisis. Agfa chairman Klaus Röhrig thanked him for his work to stabilise the business and restore profitability, and said Reinaudo’s growth plans were starting to bear fruit, and the upcoming sale of part of the Agfa Healthcare IT activities to Dedalus would mean “the company will have the necessary resources to further develop these growth strategies”.
Reinaudo will continue to support the business as a member of the group’s board of directors.
Agfa had sales of €2.5bn in 2018, with its Graphics division accounting for nearly 47% of sales. The group will announce its results for 2019 in March.
