Thyssenkrupp's CEO Miguel Lopez received a five-year extension, the German conglomerate announced on Friday. The company also set a date in the summer for an extraordinary general assembly to allow shareholders to approve the planned listing.

Thyssenkrupp has not said whether the Supervisory Board Chairman Siegfried Russwurm had to cast the casting vote in order for the contract extension to May 31, 2031, following the announcement by his deputy this week that he was against the plan.

When asked if Russwurm’s casting vote was used, a spokesperson from Thyssenkrupp refused to comment. Russwurm’s voting counts twice in the event of a tie between 20 members on the supervisory board.

Juergen Kerner (IG Metall's deputy chief) had announced on Wednesday that he would vote to reject the contract extension. He cited "fundamental mistrust" and said Lopez had not delivered a turnaround promised by Thyssenkrupp’s steel unit.

Russwurm stated that "the group is going through a difficult and urgently required transformation process in which leadership, reliability and clear priorities were of paramount importance."

The extension of Miguel Lopez’s contract reflects our confidence in him and our conviction that a clear direction and continuity along the chosen course are critical to the future progress of Thyssenkrupp.

Thyssenkrupp said that shareholders will vote on the planned spinoff of a 49 percent stake in the warship unit Thyssenkrupp. The separate listing is planned for the end of this year. (Reporting and editing by Friederike Hiene, Rachel More, and David Evans; Reporting by Christoph Steitz and Tom Kaeckenhoff)

(source: Reuters)