Heinz-Bert Zander new Chairman of REWE Group Supervisory Board

Cologne, 14.03.07

Dr. Klaus Burghard hands over his office to CEO of REWE Dortmund

Heinz-Bert Zander (54), CEO of REWE Dortmund Großhandels eG, has been elected new Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the co-operative REWE Group. At the top of the highest oversight body of the leading European trading and travel company Zanders follows the Dr. Klaus Burghard (65), who had been Chairman of the Supervisory Board for many years and resigned from his office in mid-February, to clear also the way for a generational change in the Supervisory Board following the previous changes to the Management Board membership.

At the occasion of an extraordinary shareholder's meeting held on Wednesday (14 March) in Cologne, also Frank Morgenstern (41), CEO of the trading cooperative "Für Sie", was appointed to the Supervisory Board of REWE-Zentral AG besides Heinz-Bert Zander. At an extraordinary meeting of REWE Zentralfinanz eG, Fritz Aupperle (51), Rewe businessman from Fellbach and CEO of REWE Genossenschaft South/Southwest, was elected to the supervisory body in addition to Zander. Afterwards, the members of the Group's leading divisions the Group unanimously appointed Heinz-Bert Zander as the Chairman of the bodies.

"I would like to thank all for the trust placed in me and will do my best to justify this trust and to guide REWE Group into calmer waters again", said Zander upon being elected in Cologne. "The primary focus will be on the consolidation of the Group's structure in a way that allows a successful working on all levels, from the Management Board through the strategic business units all the way to the independent retailers and store managers out in the country", said the renowned trade expert, who is CEO of REWE Dortmund and managing a wholesale business turnover of almost two billion euros. The new Management Board of REWE Group with Alain Caparros at its top had done a great job already. The path followed at the moment needed to be continued single-mindedly.  "REWE Group is strong enough to cope with the challenges of the future", said the new Chairman of the Supervisory Board with a tone of utter conviction.

The graduate in business administration began his career as trainee at the Cologne-based REWE headquarters in 1979. In 1980, he joined REWE Dortmund, where he became senior manager of the retail business unit in 1984 to be subsequently appointed to the Management Board in 1995. In November 2006, he followed Rainer Paas at the top of the management of the Dortmund-based headquarters of the co-operative. As for the entire REWE Group, also REWE Dortmund combines both a well-established branch of independent retailers - together with the subsidiary Michael Brücken (Kaufpark) - and a successful branch store system under its umbrella. "We need both, the independent REWE retailers and the committed store managers", said Heinz-Bert Zander.

Services of Dr. Klaus Burghard praised

The Supervisory Board praised Dr. Klaus Burghard's commitment and his services rendered to REWE Group in his office as Chairman over many years. In his function as CEO of the "Für Sie"-Handelsgenossenschaft co-operative, the lawyer has been member of the highest oversight body of the Cologne-based REWE head office organisations since 1988. During his term in office, he was involved in many important decisions on the further development of the Group. These include the REWE structural reform in 1990 that followed the complete takeover of the Leibbrand-Gruppe as well as the steps towards internationalisation, as they were taken for instance by acquiring in 1996 the Austrian market leader BML-Group (BILLA, Merkur, BIPA).

In 1997, Dr. Klaus Burghard was elected Chairman of the Supervisory Board of REWE Deutscher Supermarkt KGaA, the largest branch company of REWE Group. From mid-2000, he finally was Chairman of the Supervisory Boards of REWE-Zentral AG und REWE-Zentralfinanz eG. With the takeover of the DER-Group in the same year, the travel and tourism division of REWE Group became another main pillar of the Group. The following years were marked by a continuous growth of all business divisions in Germany and abroad ranging from food trade through specialist stores and the commercial customer business all the way to travel and tourism.

Following the withdrawal of the Hans Reischl in 2004, who had been REWE Group CEO for many years, Burghard was one of the fundamental agents in modernising the former structures of the Group. In his function as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, he played an decisive role in developing future-oriented strategies for the leading European trading and travel company. The Supervisory Board expressed its thanks to the departing Chairman for his courage, his willingness to take risks and his entrepreneurial foresight. In particular, he rendered outstanding services to the company by introducing corporate governance guidelines aimed at improving transparency.

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