At Kempinski Hotels, CEO and CFO to Step Down

GENEVA—Kempinski AG, Munich and Kempinski Hotels SA, Geneva revealed that Markus Semer will leave his role as chairman of the management board & CEO. Following Semer’s decision to leave Kempinski for a new assignment as of next year, Colin Lubbe will leave his role as CFO and vice chairman of the management board.

Semer and Lubbe will remain until the transition of leadership is complete at Kempinski Group.

Since Semer joined the company 16 years ago, the portfolio grew from 23 hotels to 78 hotels under operation and 21 under development today with the latest landmark openings in Singapore, Dubai Palm, Muscat and Bali.

During his time with Kempinski, Semer has served for more than 11 years as a member of the management board of Kempinski AG and as a director of the board of Kempinski Hotels. In addition, for the past six years he has served as deputy CEO and subsequently as chairman of the management board and CEO. Semer is credited with having played an essential role in transitioning the brand from an interregional German hotel operator to an independent international luxury hotel management brand.

“On behalf of the supervisory board, I would like to sincerely thank Markus Semer for his invaluable involvement and dedication to the Kempinski Group over the last 16 years and over the last three years as CEO for having successfully repositioned and succeeded in making the company profitable by setting a financially sound strategy with an achieved sustainable net portfolio growth,” said H.E. Abdulla H. Saif, chairman of Kempinski AG.

Since his appointment 10 years ago, Lubbe has served as a member of the management board of Kempinski AG and as a director of the board of Kempinski Hotels SA, and has served for the last three years as vice chairman of the management board.

“On behalf of the supervisory board, I would like to sincerely thank Colin Lubbe for his contribution and dedication to the group and the Kempinski Brand over the last 10 years in his role as CFO, having been in charge of finance, IT and technical and pre-opening services,” said Saif.

Semer said: “Over the last 16 years, Kempinski was not only a job, but also a true passion and matter of the heart, and I am very grateful for having been given such a unique career opportunity. We are closing the business year 2018 with again overachieving our profit targets and having fulfilled all strategic KPIs and net portfolio growth objectives. I leave with my mind at ease knowing that, together with my colleagues, we were able to prove the financially sound and sustainable competitiveness of Kempinski as an independent international hotel luxury brand, while having increased substantially the company value over the last three years for the Kempinski shareholders. I believe it is now the right time for me to begin a new chapter in my professional career, and I am excited to start my new assignment in January 2020. In the meantime, the Kempinski team and I will continue to deliver a beautiful performance for our hotel asset owners and guests alike in the traditional craftsmanship known as Kempinski.”

Lubbe shared: “I am very proud to have contributed to increasing the company value substantially over the last three years for the Kempinski shareholders. We are closing the business year 2018 with having yet again exceeded our company’s profit targets and having fulfilled all strategic KPIs and net portfolio growth objectives. I leave in place an exceptionally talented team who will continue to build on what we have achieved and have no doubt that they will continue to grow and excel, individually and for the company.”