“Apleona is very well positioned for further growth and a successful future as the market-leading real estate service provider in Europe. After 27 years in the FM sector as head of a market-leading FM company in Germany, now is the right time for me to step away from the operating business,” says Mr. Weixler, commenting on his decision to move to the supervisory board.
Apleona CEO Dr. Jochen Keysberg acknowledges Mr. Weixler as the “bedrock and shaper of German facility management,” who had decisively advanced the sector over many years, not least thanks to his activity as chairman of the executive board of the most important industrial association, GEFMA e.V.: “Not only has Mr. Weixler played a leading role in supporting many decisive strategic choices in the sector in the past 27 years, he has also, in particular, largely established Apleona HSG Facility Management, the market leader in Germany and Apleona’s core business today, and has continually expanded its market position. We are very pleased that Mr. Weixler’s broad experience will continue to be available to us in the supervisory board of Apleona.”
Otto Kajetan Weixler’s professional career began in 1984 at Philipp Holzmann AG following his studies in construction business management. After several professional positions, including experience working in Rome as commercial head of the Italian branch, he became the sole managing director of HSG Holzmann Technischer Service GmbH in 1992. He continuously expanded the business further in the decades that followed, even after the sale to the Bilfinger Group in 2002, until it became a market leader. Moreover, in 2004, after several years as a member of the executive board at GEFMA e.V. – German Facility Management Association – Weixler was elected as chairman, a position that he currently still holds. Otto Kajetan Weixler has been COO of the Apleona Group since January 2017. He celebrated his 60th birthday on November 29, 2018.
Robin Petersen takes on responsibility for the DACH region
With effect from March 1, 2019, Mr. Robin Petersen will join the company and be appointed to the management board of the Apleona Group. After a transition period, he will take over responsibility for the Facility Management business in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (“DACH region”) from Mr. Weixler with effect from July 1, 2019.
“In Mr. Petersen, we have acquired a manager with national and international experience for our group of companies. He has precise knowledge of the challenges of our industrial customers and has already successfully managed and further developed large service companies that require high staff deployment,” says CEO Dr. Jochen Keysberg, commenting on Robin Petersen joining Apleona group. “I look forward to working with Mr. Petersen, whose expertise and experience as a manager will help us to press ahead with becoming the European market leader,” adds CEO Dr. Jochen Keysberg.
Robin Petersen (43) has broad experience as a manager for services in the industrial sector. He began his career as a management consultant in 2000 after completing his degree in business studies in Germany, France, and the USA (WHU Koblenz, Anderson School of Management). Then, beginning in 2003, a career in various business units of the Siemens Group followed with several positions abroad, including in the USA and China. Most recently, Robin Petersen has been head of the services division for the power plant business of Siemens for Europe, Russia, and Africa since 2014. The business managed by Mr. Petersen, currently with around 2,500 employees, comprises a range of services, including maintenance, repairs, replacements, modernizations, and upgrading of power plants and power plant components, up to complete operator models of systems. In the last few years, he has developed the business further through, among other things, new service and operator concepts, regional expansion and the digitization of processes.
