voestalpine is re-streamlining the Group’s structure; changes in the Management Board

In accordance with today’s resolution by the voestalpine Supervisory Board, the organizational and personnel changes will take effect as of the beginning of the business year 2012/13, i.e., as of April 1, 2012. The detailed organization of the new division will be approved at the next meeting of the Supervisory Board in late March, 2012. In the future, the capabilites of voestalpine will no longer be divided among five divisions of very different size but will be bundled in four divisions of almost equal size. Merging the two divisions will generate a number of synergy effects. These divisions have already worked together closely in the past in research and development. Thus it will be possible to service important customer segments in a more coordinated way in the future, in particular, the automobile industry and the energy sector.

CEO Dr. Wolfgang Eder anticipates that the divisional merger will provide significant momentum for further growth in these particular sectors that have excellent future prospects.

Dipl.-Ing. Herbert Eibensteiner brings extensive international experience to his tenure as the head of the new division and a member of the voestalpine AG Management Board. The Linz native began his voestalpine career in 1989 as a plant engineer at voestalpine Stahl GmbH after receiving his degree from the Technical University Vienna where he studied business administration and mechanical engineering. In 1993, he undertook the management of the maintenance of the voestalpine cold-rolling mills. The 48-year-old Eibensteiner subsequently held leading positions in quality management and environmental protection, and in 2000, he became the technical manager of voestalpine Krems GmbH.

In 2004, he became a member of the management of the Profilform Division (voestalpine Profilform GmbH), and he is still the spokesman of the Management Board of voestalpine Krems GmbH. Concurrently, Eibensteiner, who has four children, acquired a great deal of experience abroad and headed numerous projects. His term of office is until March 31, 2014, the same as the other members of the Management Board.

The two members of the Management Board, Wolfgang Spreitzer (60) and Franz Hirschmanner (58), are retiring from the Board at the end of March on the best of terms and will continue to be active on behalf of the Group. Wolfgang Spreitzer will assist his successor in an advisory role in various functions on the Supervisory Board for another twelve months. Franz Hirschmanner will make his expertise available to the Management Board for new projects for another two years.

“Both members of the Management Board performed very successfully for voestalpine for more than 30 years. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks for their outstanding work as division heads and, personally, for our successful cooperation on the Management Board,” commented Eder about the forthcoming Board changes. The retiring Management Board members can look back on an impressive history of success; they are both handing over divisions that are in excellent shape. Wolfgang Spreitzer made the Profilform Division the worldwide market leader in special sections and the Automotive Division under Franz Hirschmanner advanced to a top European provider of special components for the automotive supply industry. Both names are closely associated with the success story of the voestalpine Group since its IPO in 1995.