Novomatic’s annual general meeting took place on 15 January and a board restructuring has been swiftly announced.
Birgit Wimmer has been both appointed to the Supervisory Board and elected its Chair, a role in which she is set to succeed Dr Bernd Oswald, a member of the board for over 10 years.
Wimmer is not a new face within the company and has held a number of top management roles with Novomatic over the years.
She formerly served as the Chair of the Board of Directors at Novomatic’s Swiss holding company – she was also Managing Director of Novo Invest, founded by Novomatic originator Johann Graf.
In this new position, the long-term shareholder has made history in becoming the first woman to chair the Supervisory Board.
In the aftermath of the AGM, she commented: "I look forward to working with my fellow Supervisory Board members and the Management Board to strategically, sustainably, and successfully shape the further development of the Group as Chair."
Beyond that headline personnel change, there have been some other new additions, with Dr Haig Asenbauer appointed to the board.
Asenbauer is a legal attorney and a Non-Executive Director at Ainsworth, a company of which Novomatic now owns a controlling share.
He has also been voted in as Deputy Chairman, while Martina Flitsch and Dr Robert Hofians retain their positions as regular board members.
The departing Chairman, Dr Bernd Oswald, was first voted into the position in 2017 – he will take up another role in the company
