MONDI PLC JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Mondi Group (>> Mondi Limited) denied on Friday that its new Chief Executive Peter Oswald was planning to restructure the packaging and paper company but confirmed it would move some of its Johannesburg functions to its Vienna office.
The CEO, who officially succeeded David Hathorn on Thursday, said he would continue the plans of his predecessor and was committed to maintaining the company's expansion strategy.
Oswald, who previously ran the company's Europe and international division, said Mondi had identified a number of acquisitions in the short term to boost the packaging businesses, without giving further details.
Austrian weekly Trend said on Friday Oswald planned to restructure Mondi and move its global headquarters to Vienna.
"The new CEO Peter Oswald is currently based in Vienna and is going to stay there, so it's no change at all. Some of the financial reporting support roles that are currently based here (Johannesburg), make more sense for them to be based closer to the new CEO," Mondi's communications manager Kerry Cooper said.
The Johannesburg corporate office in South Africa, which employs 25 people, will be retained as some functions move to the Vienna office, the biggest in the group, and the firm will still be listed on the Johannesburg Stock exchange.
Cooper said the group's South African operations and employees would not be affected by these changes.
Mondi, which is also listed in London (>> Mondi Plc), operates corporate offices in South Africa, London and Vienna. Hathorn was based in the Johannesburg office.
"It's not really a major change for us at all, it is business as usual here in South Africa," Cooper said.
(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; editing by Susan Thomas)
