CEO of Panalpina steps down
Monika Ribar, CEO of Panalpina, one of the world’s leading freight forwarding and logistics companies, will step down at the end of May 2013, said in the company's press release. Her successor is the internationally widely recognized freight forwarding expert and former Kuehne + Nagel management board member Peter Ulber (53). This change in CEO has been planned and prepared by the Board of Directors of Panalpina World Transport (Holding) Ltd and Monika Ribar as part of the company’s on-going succession process. Monika Ribar, who in addition to her role as CEO of Panalpina already serves on other companies’ boards of directors, plans now to turn her focus more on these non-executive managerial roles for the foreseeable future.
Monika Ribar has been a member of Panalpina’s management for almost 23 years and she has led the company as CEO for the past seven years. During this time she has developed Panalpina into a global and leading provider of supply chain solutions and in the past years introduced a compliance organization and culture which is regarded as exemplary by the industry.
„Monika Ribar deserves high praise for the secure legacy she will leave at Panalpina. The Board of Directors expresses its sincere gratitude and appreciation to her,” comments Rudolf W. Hug, Chairman of the Board of Directors, on Ribar’s decision to step down. “She has guided the enterprise through one of the most difficult phases of its recent history and successfully geared it towards the new challenges.” Ribar will hand over her responsibilities to Peter Ulber on June 1, 2013, and put her focus on non-executive managerial functions outside of the company going forward.
Ulber can look back on an impressive career in the global freight forwarding and logistics business. Following his studies at the International School of Logistics in Hamburg, he held various management positions from 1985 to 2011 at Kuehne + Nagel in Europe as well as North and South America. As a member of the management board from 2008 onwards, he was responsible for both seafreight and airfreight at Kuehne + Nagel as well as having had overall responsibility for the global sales organization. As a result of a series of strategic acquisitions by Kuehne + Nagel, he was also strongly involved in the company’s expansion in Europe, Asia and America. At the end of 2011, he went into business himself as co-founder and partner of the Charleston Enterprise Group LLC.
“We feel fortunate that we could attract one of the globally most respected freight forwarding experts and entrepreneurs and secure his services as CEO of Panalpina,” says Chairman of the Board of Directors, Hug. “His entrepreneurial track record is impressive and we are convinced that he will succeed in further expanding Panalpina’s position in the world markets.”
About Panalpina
The Panalpina Group is one of the world's leading providers of supply chain solutions. The company combines its core products of Air Freight, Ocean Freight, and Logistics to deliver globally integrated, tailor-made end-to-end solutions. Drawing on in-depth industry know-how and customized IT systems, Panalpina manages the needs of its customers' supply chains, no matter how demanding they might be. The Panalpina Group operates a global network with some 500 offices in more than 80 countries, and it works with partner companies in a further 80 countries. Panalpina employs around 15,000 people worldwide who deliver a comprehensive service to the highest quality standards – wherever and whenever.