As Kasper Rorsted will be able to assume his new office from this summer, Herbert Hainer has agreed to relinquish his Executive Board mandate effective from the 30th of September, prior to the expiry of his Executive Board service contract at the end of March 2017.

Kasper Rorsted is 53 years old, Danish-born and has headed up the German DAX company Henkel as CEO since 2008. Kasper Rorsted will join the adidas Group as a member of the Executive Board on the 1st of August in order to ensure a smooth transition at the helm of the Group together with Herbert Hainer.

According to Igor Landau, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of adidas AG: “Kasper Rorsted is the perfect candidate to succeed Herbert Hainer as CEO of adidas AG. He has extensive international management experience, having held positions with high-calibre companies such as Oracle, Compaq and Hewlett Packard. For eight years, Kasper Rorsted has very successfully headed up Henkel, a DAX company that just like the adidas Group is known for its growth, internationality and sustainability”.

Mr. Landau thanked Herbert Hainer, who will leave the company by the end of September: “Herbert Hainer has done a tremendous job for the adidas Group. Under his leadership, adidas Group sales have tripled, net income and the number of employees have quadrupled, and the value of the company has increased from 3 billion euros to 18 billion euros. Yet it is not only the financial metrics that are notable: Under Herbert Hainer, the adidas Group has become one of the most sustainable corporations in Europe and one of the world's most attractive employers. For these outstanding achievements, he already today deserves the heartfelt gratitude of the Supervisory Board and all adidas Group employees. I am pleased that Herbert Hainer will continue this success story during his remaining term of office and that, together with his successor, he will ensure the best possible transition at the helm of adidas AG”.