Dr. Peter Diesch jumps ship from Linde to become CFO of KarstadtQuelle

Dr. Peter Diesch (52), currently CFO of Linde AG, has been appointed the new Chief Financial Officer of KarstadtQuelle AG by the Supervisory Board.

His predecessor, Harald Pinger (46), is leaving the Company for personal reasons.

The Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Hero Brahms, thanked Harald Pinger for his work on behalf of the Supervisory Board and the Company.

“The Management Board of KarstadtQuelle would like to thank Harald Pinger for his contribution to the restructuring and reorientation of the Company, and is looking forward to a successful cooperation with Peter Diesch”, said Thomas Middelhoff, Chairman of the Management Board. “Harald Pinger took up his position when the Company was in a difficult situation and succeeded in reorganizing KarstadtQuelle AG’s finances and establishing a stable foundation for the future in an extremely short period of time.”

The new CFO of KarstadtQuelle AG, Peter Diesch, will take up his position on January 15, 2007.

He studied Economics at the University of Freiburg i.Br. and has previously served as a managing director of Dornier Medizintechnik and Airbus Deutschland, a member of the Executive Board of Tchibo Holding AG and, since 2004, the Chief Financial Officer of Linde AG.

“In Peter Diesch, we are gaining an experienced manager who has developed a superb reputation as a finance and M&A expert at a DAX company”, said Thomas Middelhoff. “With this appointment, we are also initiating a new phase in the Company’s development.”