In a January 22 meeting, the supervisory board of Germany's HeidelbergCement AG appointed Dr. Bernd Scheifele as new chairman of the managing board. Scheifele, currently chairman of the company's supervisory board, assumed the chairmanship as of February 1. The supervisory board elected Fritz-Jürgen Heckmann as Scheifele's successor.

This unscheduled series of events followed the earlier-than-scheduled resignation of previous managing board chairman Hans Bauer, whose retirement began January 31. The mutually agreed premature termination of his contract, previously scheduled to occur at the end of 2007, was done at Bauer's request.