Originally from Germany, Jan Jenisch holds an MBA from the University of Friborg (Switzerland). He also studied in the United States.
In 1996 he joined the Swiss company Sika, which develops and manufactures systems and products for the building materials and automotive sectors, in which he held various management positions in several countries. He became a member of the board of directors in 2004, heading the Industry division, and was president of the Asia-Pacific region from 2007 to 2012, when he became CEO of Sika AG.
Under his leadership, economic performance was exceptional, resulting in a tripling of market capitalization. On the ground, Sika has expanded into new markets and established new performance standards in terms of sales and profitability.
His appointment as head of LafargeHolcim comes in a tense context, with the famous Syrian affair and the cultural concerns resulting from the merger between Lafarge and Holcim. It is therefore a desire to inject new blood and move forward which motivated the appointment in 2017 of Mr. Jenisch at the head of the construction materials and solutions giant.
Faced with the challenges facing the group, Jan Jenisch decided to focus on the long term. Thus, in March 2018, it announced a new “Building for Growth” strategy, which aims for 2022. Concretely, this resulted in a disengagement in South-East Asia, in order to to reduce debt, but also with a view to making new acquisitions in other markets.
Furthermore, in addition to his activity at the head of the cement company, he sits on the board of directors of Ambuja Cements Ltd., ACC Ltd., Schweiter Technologies AG and the LafargeHolcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction.
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