Homburg Invest Inc. has announced several important Board and executive management changes.
Founder and controlling shareholder Richard Homburg has informed the Board of Directors that he will step down from his roles as Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and Director at Homburg Invest in order to focus on developing a privately-owned global real estate venture. He will be joined at the new firm by Richard Stolle, who is also stepping down from his role of President and Chief Operating Officer at HII.
Jan Schöningh, who is currently President, North America, becomes President and Chief Executive Officer of the company. Michael Arnold CA Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors will become Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Edward Ovsenny will become Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors. Both Arnold and Ovsenny have served the Board for more than 10 years. All board and management changes are effective immediately.
"It has been a highly challenging 18 months, and we have navigated through it with many successes. Following the financial crisis three years ago, we developed and executed our strategic plan to initially protect and then unlock value for shareholders," said Richard Homburg.
"We highlighted the value in our Canadian assets by creating the Homburg Canada REIT, the value of which now exceeds the total market capitalization of Homburg Invest. We consolidated our holdings in the United States and in Germany we fully recovered our investment in the Quelle property, which had previously been written down. The time is right for someone new to step in and take our strategy to the next level. Jan Schöningh is the right person for that job today."
Jan Schöningh joined the Homburg Group of Companies in 2007 as Vice-President, Development of Homburg Canada Inc. He was named President of North America of Homburg Invest in June 2009, where he has been responsible for the US portfolio, the Canadian development portfolio and in general management.
Schöningh possesses a strong track record in both real estate and hotel management, in Canada and abroad. He worked previously with Fairmont Hotels and the Walt Disney Corporation. Originally from the Netherlands, Mr. Schöningh graduated with an MBA from the joint executive MBA program at McGill University and HEC Montréal.
Schöningh said that his first priority will be to further develop and refine HII's strategy with a view to ensuring that the company's share price reflects the full value of its assets in Canada, Europe and the United States.
"Richard Homburg is a strong, visionary leader," said Mr. Schöningh. "He built HII into a leading global real estate company with a portfolio of landmark assets in North America and Europe. He remains HII's largest shareholder and maintains a keen interest in ensuring that HII delivers full value to its shareholders.
"I am grateful for being given this opportunity and I look forward to working with our Chief Financial Officer, Jamie Miles, and other members of our management team."
Homburg thanked Stolle for his contribution to HII. "Richard Stolle has helped steer HII through both our strongest growth periods and our most challenging times. He understands global real estate like few others, and I look forward to working with him as we launch a new global real estate venture," continued Homburg. Stolle will continue as a consultant for the North American, European and Baltic States portfolios until a new chief operating officer is appointed.
HII will immediately initiate a search for one or more directors. The company will also initiate a search for a chief operating officer with strong global real estate experience.
Source: Hugin
