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Mercer International CEO David Gandossi to retire; Juan Carlos Bueno stepping in

Mercer International’s CEO and president David Gandossi has announced his decision to retire. Gandossi, who turns 65 this year, has held this position since 2015.

The company’s board of directors has announced the appointment of Juan Carlos Bueno as CEO and president, effective from May 1, 2022. Bueno will be nominated for election to the board at the company’s upcoming 2022 annual general meeting of shareholders.

“I have served over seven years as CEO and over 18 years in total in executive leadership. I feel this is the right time for me to step away and start a new chapter in my life. I have been proud and fortunate to work with an outstanding and dedicated Mercer team. I want to offer them my sincere thanks for their hard work and dedication and will miss them all. I also want to thank our board of directors, shareholders, customers and other stakeholders for their ongoing support. I’m confident Juan Carlos will be an excellent leader for Mercer. I look forward to working closely with him to ensure a smooth and successful transition,” said Gandossi.

Gandossi will step down from his current executive duties concurrently with Bueno’s appointment. He will continue with the company as an advisor until August 31, 2022 and assist Bueno and Mercer to facilitate a smooth transition.

“I am honoured to join Mercer and look forward to working with its talented employees to continue building value and driving growth for all stakeholders. I believe Mercer is very well positioned with its world-class assets, strong product portfolio mix and talented and dedicated team to succeed going forward. I look forward to joining and leading Mercer to a bright future,” said Bueno.

Bueno brings with him extensive global industrial and product experience and a proven track record of achieving commercial and operational excellence over a 30-year career. Most recently, he served from 2018 to the present date as the chairman of the board and co-founder of Global Energy which produces novel green energy generation devices.

Prior to that, from 2011 to 2017,  he was executive vice-president and divisional CEO of Biomaterials, for Stora Enso, a manufacturer of pulp, paper and other forest products. At Stora Enso Bueno designed and led its new biomaterials division, growing sales and profitability. The business included six manufacturing sites and a team of approximately 2,000 employees. He created a vision and strategy to expand into new sectors such as lignin and hemicellulose.

Bueno also has broad experience in investor relations, board interaction and other key CEO functions. He has served in several leadership positions in many other companies, including Crop Protection, Agar Cross and EI DuPont de Nemours & Company.

Jimmy Lee, executive chairman at Mercer, said, “On behalf of the full board, I would like to thank David for his many years of tireless service to Mercer both as CEO and previously as CFO. He has been an integral part of Mercer and its growth and success. David has been a leader in establishing our corporate culture or the “Mercer Way” and operating world-class bio-manufacturing facilities. His leadership and dedication have well-positioned the company to be successful moving forward. As David approached his normal retirement date, he assisted the board in conducting a focused and thorough search to find the right successor. We sincerely appreciate David’s dedication and his continued support through the transition process and wish him all the best going forward.”

Lee added, “The board of directors conducted a well-defined global search for a CEO candidate with the expertise and ability to lead Mercer in the future. With his broad commercial, operational and entrepreneurial skills and leadership qualities, Juan Carlos has a proven record of driving strategic growth and operational excellence. Given his many strengths, we believe Juan Carlos is the ideal CEO to lead Mercer into its next chapter of growth and success.”