Under the chairmanship of Mr. Patrick Ballu, EXEL Industries’ Board of Directors has chosen Daniel Tragus to succeed Yves Belegaud as Chief Executive Officer.

CEO of EXEL Industries since December 2019, Yves Belegaud gave notice of his intention to retire by the beginning of 2024. In this context, Daniel Tragus, current Deputy Chief Executive Officer in charge of strategy, M&A, and Industrial Property, has been chosen by the Board to succeed him.

An ICAM engineer and graduated with an Executive MBA from HEC Paris, Daniel Tragus has worked his whole career for different companies of the EXEL Industries Group. From 1988, he held various technical and managerial position at Kremlin, a global leader in industrial spraying. In 1999, he became Managing Director of Kremlin. In addition, Daniel Tragus played a pivot role in the integration of Hardi, Agrifac, Holmer and ET Works. Since 2016, he has been responsible for Group strategy, M&A, and Industrial Property, and, since 2020, he has been Group Deputy Chief Executive Officer. In this respect, he has led several structural projects alongside Yves Belegaud.

With his various experiences in France and abroad – in Germany, the United Kingdom and Denmark, Daniel Tragus was the natural choice for CEO. He will take up the position of EXEL Industries’ Chief Executive Officer after the meeting of the Board of Directors, on December 20, 2023.

Over these four years, Yves Belegaud has enabled the Group to get through major crises, such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the disruption of supply chains. His mandate has been marked by a combination of strong sales growth, from €777 million in 2019 to nearly €1 billion in 2023, and controlled external growth with four strategic acquisitions. Acquired in 2020, iNTEC became a subsidiary of Sames; Wauquiez, Tofinou and Rhéa Marine shipyards joined EXEL Industries in 2021; two European players in the garden market, G.F. in 2022 and Devaux in 2023, strengthened the Group’s garden activity. Within EXEL Industries, Yves Belegaud has continued to reorganize the historic agricultural spraying activity. He also contributed to the launch and the development of EXXACT Robotics, the Group’s agricultural equipment research center created in 2019.

Yves Belegaud said: « I am pleased to have led EXEL Industries through these four years marked by major crises. The Group is based on solid foundations to continue its development. I have full confidence in Daniel Tragus as he has been involved in all the projects related to the organization and growth of the Group since I joined EXEL Industries.»

Daniel Tragus a déclaré : «I am particularly grateful and honored for the trust the Board of Directors has shown in appointing me Chief Executive Officer. I shall rely on my knowledge of the Group, as well as on highly skilled and committed teams, to carry on with EXEL Industries’ development, consistently with its corporate DNA. Aligned with the Group’s core values, my guiding principles will be focused on the successes of our customers and employees, innovation, industrial performance, and the development of our social and environmental commitments.»

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