Gabriele Volz has resigned as CEO of Commerz Real after less than a year in the position due to “a difference of opinions”.
She will be replaced by Henning Koch, who has been a member of the board of management with responsibility for transactions and asset management since April 2020.
Commerz Real said Volz submitted an offer to the supervisory board to terminate her employment relationship by mutual consent.
“The reason for the separation is a difference of opinions on the management and future strategic orientation of Commerz Real,” the company said.
Sabine Schmittroth, the chairwoman of the supervisory board of Commerz Real, said: “I deeply regret that in Gabriele Volz we are losing a highly experienced manager in the fields of real estate and finances, and that she has decided to seek a new professional challenge. I wish her all the very best and every success in the future.”
In June last year, Commerz Real announced the appointment of Volz to succeed Andreas Muschter who had left earlier that month to join European hotel investor The Student Hotel as CFO. Volz, who took up the role on 1 January this year, had been managing director of UniCredit Bank subsidiary Wealthcap since 2009.
Schmittroth said Koch is thoroughly familiar with the company and its business environment and is “a convincing choice thanks to his extensive specialist expertise and his pronounced management qualities”.
Koch, who joined the company in 2017 from Credit Suisse to lead a newly created transaction division, will begin his new role on 1 May, taking over from Volz, whose appointment as a member of the board of Commerz Real ends on 30 April.
Koch will also become the chairman of the management of Commerz Real Investmentgesellschaft.
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