05/19/2016, Berlin

KLOECKNER.I STRENGTHENS MANAGEMENT TEAM WITH STARTUP EXPERT FRANZISKA LEONHARDT

Berlin, Germany, May 19, 2016 – kloeckner.i GmbH, the digitalization subsidiary of Klöckner & Co SE, is expanding its management team with Dr. Franziska Leonhardt.

Due to take office as Chief Operating Officer in September, Ms. Leonhardt, who holds a doctorate in law, will be in charge of areas including strategy, business development as well as legal and compliance. She will also head the Group’s venture capital subsidiary, kloeckner.v.

Ms. Leonhardt was a member of the management team of Rocket Internet SE, where she played a major role in structuring the international business portfolio and the company’s IPO in 2014. Most recently, she advised companies such as private equity financed online and software firms with the international scaling of their business model.

Gisbert Rühl, CEO of Klöckner & Co SE: “Franziska Leonhardt is an outstanding addition to the management of kloeckner.i. Ms. Leonhardt will be able to optimally contribute her in-depth expertise in launching and scaling digital business models to our fast-growing digitalization activities and drive forward the rapid evolution of our web platform for the steel and metal industry. We look forward very much to working together."

About Klöckner & Co:
Klöckner & Co is one of the largest producer-independent distributors of steel and metal products and one of the leading steel service center companies worldwide. Based on its distribution and service network of around 200 locations in 14 countries, the Group supplies around 140,000 customers. In addition to companies in the construction industry as well as machinery and mechanical engineering, Klöckner & Co serves customers in the automotive and chemical industry, in shipbuilding and in fields of household appliances, consumer goods and energy. Currently Klöckner & Co has around 9,200 employees. The Group had sales of around €6.4 billion in fiscal 2015.

The shares of Klöckner & Co SE are admitted to trading on the regulated market segment (Regulierter Markt) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse) with further post-admission obligations (Prime Standard). Klöckner & Co shares are listed in the SDAX®-Index of Deutsche Börse.

ISIN: DE000KC01000; WKN: KC0100; Common Code: 025808576.

Contact person Klöckner & Co SE:
Christian Pokropp – Press Spokesperson
Head of Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
Telephone: +49 (0) 203-307-2050
Fax:            +49 (0) 203-307-5025
Email:         christian.pokropp@kloeckner.com

About kloeckner.i:
As part of its long-term growth strategy Klöckner & Co aims at the seamless digitalization of its entire supply and service chain. In order to have all targeted projects under one roof, Klöckner & Co established kloeckner.i, a Group Center of Competence for digitalization, at the end of 2014 in Berlin. kloeckner.i's main task is the development, testing and Group-wide roll-out of digital solutions. kloeckner.i is also responsible for managing online marketing activities and, as a platform for exchanging knowledge and ideas, for coordinating all activities of  Klöckner & Co’s national subsidiaries within the framework of digitalization. Meanwhile, kloeckner.i has more than 30 employees from the Berlin startup scene, working in the fields of product innovation and development, online marketing and business analytics.

Press Release 05/19/2016

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