Matthias Zachert

Chairman of the Board of Management

Matthias Zachert was born in Bonn, Germany in 1967. After completing a commercial apprenticeship at Mercedes-Benz AG, he studied business administration from 1990 to 1995, majoring in finance and international management.

From 1999 to 2002, Matthias Zachert worked in Paris, France, as Chief Financial Officer of the International Region of Aventis Pharma AG, which was formed by the merger of Hoechst Marion Roussel (HMR) and Rhône-Poulenc Rorer. Before the merger that created Aventis, he held various senior management positions in the pharmaceuticals business of Hoechst AG. In 2002, Matthias Zachert became Chief Financial Officer at Kamps AG, where he helped to restructure the company.

Matthias Zachert served as Chief Financial Officer of LANXESS AG from 2004 to 2011, where he had a key role in establishing the global finance organization, restructuring the portfolio, and realigning the company after it was spun off from Bayer.

From June 2011, he was a member of the Executive Board and Chief Financial Officer at Merck KGaA. 
Matthias Zachert was appointed Chairman of the Board of Management of LANXESS AG effective April 1, 2014. His current contract is valid until March 31, 2024.

Zachert is married and has four children.

Responsibilities

• Corporate Communications
• Corporate Development
• Legal & Compliance
• Business Units: Flavors & Fragrances, Liquid Purification Technologies, Material Protection Products

External offices

• Member of the Supervisory Board of Siemens AG (listed on the stock exchange)
• Member of the executive committee of the association of German chemical companies "VCI"
• Member of the German-Asia Pacific Business Association (APA)

Frederique van Baarle

Member of the Board of Management and Labor Director of LANXESS AG

Frederique van Baarle was born in Geleen, the Netherlands, in 1971. 

After completing her Bachelor and MBA in Utrecht and Enschede, the Netherlands, she started her professional career in the chemical industry in 2000 at Royal DSM, where she held various management positions. 

In 2011, Frederique van Baarle joined LANXESS and took over the management position Global Marketing and Supply Chain for EPDM rubber in the then business unit High Performance Elastomers (now ARLANXEO). 

From 2013 to the end of 2018, she headed the Engineering Plastics business line for the EMEA region within the High Performance Materials business unit. In addition, she completed an executive training at the French business school INSEAD.

After being responsible for the Global Procurement and Logistics Group Function from December 2018 to May 2020, Frederique van Baarle took over as Head of the High Performance Materials business unit in June 2020.

LANXESS spun off this business unit from the Group on 1 April and placed it in a joint venture with the private equity firm Advent. On the same date, Frederique von Baarle took up her position as a member of the Board of Management and Labour Director of LANXESS AG. Her contract runs until 31 March 2026. 
Frederique von Baarle is married and has four children. 
 

Responsibilities

• Human Resources
• Business Units: Lubricant Additives Business, Polymer Additives Business, Rhein Chemie
• Region Americas

Oliver Stratmann

Chief Financial Officer

Oliver Stratmann was born in 1972. He graduated in business administration in Gießen, Germany, and London. Before joining LANXESS, he held positions in Controlling and Investor Relations at Celanese AG. 
He joined specialty chemicals company LANXESS in October 2004 in the Investor Relations Group Function, which he became Head of on 1 October 2008. 

He has been Head of Treasury & Investor Relations at LANXESS since 1 April 2015. 

On 4 August 2023, the Supervisory Board of LANXESS AG appointed Oliver Stratmann as Chief Financial Officer of the specialty chemicals company with effect from 1 September 2023. His current contract runs until 31 August 2026.

Responsibilities

• Accounting
• Corporate Controlling
• Information Technology
• Mergers & Acquisitions 
• Tax & Trade Compliance
• Treasury & Investor Relations
• Region EMEA

External Offices

• Member of the Board of Deutsches Aktieninstitut (DAI)

Hubert Fink

Member of the Board of Management of LANXESS AG

Hubert Fink was born in Jülich, Germany, in 1962. He studied process engineering at RWTH Aachen University, obtaining his doctorate in 1988. He completed a second diploma in business administration and engineering at RWTH Aachen University in 1992.

Fink joined Bayer AG in 1988. After holding various positions in production, plant engineering and the corporate staff division, he became head of Global Operations Semi-Crystalline Products in the Bayer Polymers subgroup in 2002. 

When the LANXESS organization was set up in 2004, Fink became head of the Semi-Crystalline Products business unit. He headed the Advanced Industrial Intermediates business unit since 2011.

Hubert Fink was appointed by the Supervisory Board of LANXESS AG on September 22, 2015, to become Member of the Board of Management effective October 1, 2015.The Supervisory Board of LANXESS AG reappointed Mr. Fink as a member of the Board of Management in December 2022. His current contract is valid from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2026.

Fink is married and has two children.

Responsibilites

• Global Procurement & Logistics
• Production, Technology, Safety & Environment
• Business Units: Advanced Industrial Intermediates, Saltigo, Urethane Systems, Inorganic Pigments
• Region APAC

External Office: 

Member of the Board of the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic)