Robert Kreizenbeck is to depart Billerud, with his successor as president in North America to be confirmed in due course.
Mr Kreizenbeck has served as the company’s president in North America for the past year and has been part of Billerud’s start-up phase in the region. He will leave his role later in March. Prior to Billerud, Mr Kreizenbeck worked at Verso, WestRock, KapStone Paper and Packaging and International Paper.
He progressed to the president role he currently fulfils from that of senior vice president of operations at Verso, following that company’s takeover by the then BillerudKorsnäs. BillerudKorsnäs became simply Billerud in October last year in order to cater to international customers. As a supplier of virgin fibre-based paper and packaging materials, with roots and heritage in the forest and paper industry that go back more than 150 years, the company has had several different names. The most recent name change is in line with the company’s predefined strategy to expand into North America and continue driving ‘sustainable growth’ in global markets. The aforementioned acquisition of Verso was also in line with an ambition for Billerud to expand in North America. Verso’s strategic assets were noted at that time as being positioned in a region with ‘abundant and cost-effective’ fibre supply, suitable for production of premium packaging materials. Verso was to be the platform for Billerud’s future expansion in North America with, ‘continuous growth opportunities over the next decade and beyond.’
Christoph Michalski, Billerud president and CEO, said, ‘I would like to express my sincere thanks to Robert for his contribution during Billerud’s start-up phase in North America. He has been a key person in the integration work. I wish him all the best in the future.’
