Comet Group’s Board of Directors nominates Christoph Kutter as independent Chairman of the Board

Media Release
Flamatt, Switzerland - December 6, 2018

Comet Group's Board of Directors nominates Christoph Kutter as independent Chairman of the Board

The Board of Directors will propose Christoph Kutter, Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Microsystems and Solid State Technologies (EMFT), Munich, to shareholders as non-executive, independent Chairman of the Board. His nomination for election at the Annual Shareholder Meeting on April 25, 2019 comes as part of the succession plan for the current Chairman of the Board, Hans Hess, who will retire in April 2019.

The Board of Directors is convinced that Christoph Kutter, with his international strategic and operational experience in the semiconductor industry, his broad understanding of technology and his expertise in components, systems and software, is very well qualified to successfully lead Comet into the future as its Chairman and to add value to the company.

"Business acumen, market knowledge, a deep understanding of customers, and experience in the development of sustainable strategies and innovative solutions are essential to the expansion of the Comet Group's technology leadership and its future market success. In Christoph Kutter we have found an outstanding personality who, thanks to his technological expertise and profound knowledge of customer needs, combined with his independent perspective, is able to provide important impetus for the further strategic development of the Comet Group," says Rolf Huber, Chairman of the Nomination Committee.

"In my proposed role as Chairman of the Board of Directors, I am excited to lead Comet forward together with the Board and Executive Committee on the long-term, profitable growth trajectory that the Group has embarked upon, and thus to generate sustained value for the shareholders," says Christoph Kutter.

Professor Kutter, PhD, aged 54, is a physicist and German national. Since 2012 he has been the Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Microsystems and Solid State Technologies (EMFT) in Munich, as well as Professor for Polytronic Systems at Bundeswehr University Munich, university of the German Armed Forces.

Christoph Kutter is also member of the supervisory board of First Sensor AG, a company listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange that is a leading supplier of sensor technology. In addition, for the past several years, he has been member of the supervisory boards and advisory boards of various public institutions in Germany.

Christoph Kutter's 17-year career in the semiconductor industry began with his work as a process development engineer at Siemens Semiconductors, which later became Infineon Technologies AG. As Senior Vice President of Product and System Development, Communication Business Group, from 2004 to 2009 he headed the development unit for wireless and wired products with more than 2,500 hardware and software development engineers in 20 design centers worldwide and played a key role in the turnaround of the Communications business.

During his career to date, Christoph Kutter has held a variety of leadership positions in research and development, including those of Senior Vice President of Infineon Corporate Research and Corporate Vice President for R&D Excellence.

Provided he is elected, on April 25, 2019, Christoph Kutter will succeed Hans Hess as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Hans Hess has been a member of the Board of Comet Holding AG since 2005 and its Chairman since 2007. As announced in February 2018, he will not stand for re-election at the 2019 Annual Shareholder Meeting.

Media Relations
Ines Najorka
Corporate Communications
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Key dates
March 14, 2019: Publication of annual report
April 25, 2019: Annual Shareholder Meeting

The Comet Group

The Comet Group is a globally leading, innovative Swiss technology company focused on the x-ray, radio frequency and ebeam businesses. With premium high-tech components and systems, we enable customers in numerous industries to both enhance the quality of their products and make their manufacturing more efficient and eco-friendly. Our innovative solutions under the Comet, Yxlon and ebeam brands are in demand for applications such as non-destructive testing and security inspection, the coating and treatment of surfaces, and non-contact sterilization.

Based in Flamatt, Switzerland, the Comet Group has a presence in all world markets. We employ more than 1,400 people worldwide, including over 500 in Switzerland. Besides production facilities in China, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and the USA, we maintain various subsidiaries in the USA, China, Japan and Korea. Comet (COTN) is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange.

Media release (PDF)

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