Also Group considering eight CEO candidates ahead of Gustavo Möller-Hergt's retirement

There is no second Gustavo Möller-Hergt.

The Also CEO (pictured) is a unique personality - analytically skilled, communicative and straight to the point.

The dismissal of a long-time managing director can take him two minutes on the phone, only slightly longer than the public dressing down of an editor over a negative story.

On the other hand, the former manager of the Warsteiner brewery likes to hug journalists and foster a convivial atmosphere.

His move to broadliner Also over 10 years ago undoubtedly brought colour to the industry.

After a decade, the CEO isn't just looking to appoint a successor, he is celebrating the occasion.

Möller-Hergt is considering no fewer than eight candidates.

Ingo Adolphs, Tom Brunner (the Swiss is managing director of Also Germany together with Mike Rakowski), Jorge Gállego, Wolfgang Krainz and Espen Zachariassen, Jan Bogdanovich, Andreas Kuhn and Thomas Meyerhans - all are experienced managers who have been with Also for a number of years.

The chairman of the board of directors will also be appointed from this group.

This may not be an unusual process, but it is unorthodox for a company to first introduce the members of a management body who are eligible for the CEO position, but not to name the CEO.

Möller-Hergt is maintaining the suspense around his successor.

He is expected to present the new CEO at the distie's AGM on 21 March at the latest.

The objectives for the designated Also boss and all managers in the group executive board are clear: to further improve sales and profitability, which have fallen recently, and to increase speed and flexibility, according to Also.

"The new management takes into account the strong international expansion and the increasing complexity of the business. The key to the company's success lies in the use and monetisation of our entire ecosystem in interaction," says Möller-Hergt.

Möller-Hergt first announced his retirement from the CEO seat last year.

He will move to become chair of the board of directors of Schweizer Holding AG, he will continue to have a say in corporate strategy.