The majority owner also puts an additional managing director in the mask manufacturer's boardroom.
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Majority owner Lenzing is now tightening the reins at the protective mask manufacturer Hygiene Austria, which has granted partial production of its masks in China.
As planned for a long time, the listed company oö. Fiber manufacturer takes over management control at Hygiene Austria LP GmbH and appoints an additional managing director in Stephan Sielaff. In addition, an external forensic investigation team will be appointed, Lenzing said on Thursday.
Forensics team should create clarity
When asked, the forensics team should “create clarity” on the mask production topic. A number of how many FF2 masks may have been obtained from China is not yet given. On Wednesday evening, Hygiene Austria surprised with the admission that it had also resorted to Chinese contract manufacturers to meet peak demand. Before that, people had always portrayed themselves as a “Made in Austria” producer, which is why top politicians also met at Hygiene Austria.
The company “clearly rejected” the allegations of fraud and undeclared work, which the Economic and Corruption Prosecutor's Office (WKStA) is investigating.
Sielaff, who is now the third managing director at Hygiene Austria LP GmbH, is a full-time member of the board of directors for fibers & technology at Lenzing, a qualified chemical engineer and held management positions at Unilever and Symrise from 1993 to 2014. From 2014 to February 2020 he was a member of the board of directors of the Swiss specialty chemicals company Archroma, a supplier to the textile and paper industry.
Joint venture with Palmers
So far, the business of Hygiene Austria LP GmbH has been managed by Tino Wieser and Stephan Trubrich, whereby Tino Wieser (like his brother Luca Wieser) is a member of the board of the Hygiene Austria minority owner Palmers Textil AG and Trubrich is responsible for capital market activities at Lenzing is.
The APA said nothing should change in terms of the 50.1 percent share in Lenzing and 49.9 percent Palmers. The fact that Lenzing wants to take over management control at the mask company already emerged from a merger notification with the Federal Competition Authority (BWB) at the beginning of February. The BWB had until March 2nd for the exam.
