Christoph Vilanek, former CEO of Freenet and long-serving member of Ceconomy's Supervisory Board, has been appointed as the new chairman of the oversight body for the holding company behind Media Markt and Saturn.

Ceconomy announced on Monday that current Supervisory Board Chairman Thomas Dannenfeldt will step down from his position for personal reasons at the end of July. Vilanek was elected as the new chairman during an extraordinary meeting of the Supervisory Board and will assume the role at the end of July.

Vilanek is well acquainted with the Düsseldorf-based holding, having served on its Supervisory Board since May 2019. Additionally, the telecommunications group Freenet, where Vilanek was CEO until earlier this month, holds a 6.7 percent stake in Ceconomy, giving him further insight into the company. With his recent departure from Freenet, Vilanek now has more time to dedicate to his new responsibilities.

Ceconomy only recently lost its long-standing CEO Karsten Wildberger in April, when he left to become Digital Minister in Chancellor Friedrich Merz's cabinet. Former CFO Kai-Ulrich Deissner has since taken over as interim CEO. As the new Supervisory Board chairman, Vilanek will now be able to focus on finding a permanent solution for this key leadership position.

(Reporting by Matthias Inverardi, edited by Sabine Wollrab. For inquiries, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).)