Ontex Group names Stéphane Re as Group Chief Financial Officer
He will succeed Geert Peeters, who is set to move on to a new phase in his professional career, with Peeters staying on briefly to help ensure a smooth transition.
GERMANY – Ontex Group NV has named Stéphane Re as Group CFO and a member of its Executive Management Committee, effective September 14, 2026.
As the Group CFO, he will oversee the company’s finances at group level, including financial planning, reporting, cash flow, funding, budgeting, controls, and supporting strategy and transformation.
Re, a Swiss national, joins Ontex from Partner in Pet Food (PPF), a major European private-label and branded pet food manufacturer backed by CVC and Cinven, where he served as Group CFO and led a wide-ranging change program.
Before that, from 2014 to 2021, he was Group CFO of Thai Union Europe/MW Brands, where he played a central role in transforming the pan-European private-label and branded packaged seafood business.
He also held senior finance positions at Nestlé across Europe and Asia from 1999 to 2014 and began his career in 1997 in corporate finance at Credit Suisse First Boston in Geneva.
Peeters joined Ontex in December 2023 to oversee the company’s Finance and IT organizations.
During his tenure, Ontex completed the refinancing of its senior debt, divested its Emerging Markets businesses, rolled out an ambitious digitalisation program, and advanced several cost-transformation initiatives.
Commenting on the appointment, Ontex CEO Laurent Nielly stated, “I am delighted to welcome Stéphane Re as our new Group CFO.”
“I am convinced that Stéphane’s experience and track record in driving complex transformation and value creation programs will be invaluable to Ontex, as we enter into a new phase to transform our business in Europe and North America to become leaner, more efficient, and structurally cash-flow generating.”
“Together with our new Transformation Management Office (TMO), Stéphane will take a key role in coordinating the transformation of our European and North American businesses in line with the conclusions of our strategic review.”
This appointment comes shortly after Group NV recently hastened the start of Laurent Nielly’s tenure as Chief Executive Officer to January 13, 2026.
Nielly will lead a thorough examination of every possible strategy to identify new paths to boost profitable expansion and tap Ontex’s built-in value.
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