Mayer Appointed Chairman, Chief Executive at Nexter

PARIS –​ — The French government said Dec. 11 Stéphane Mayer will be appointed as chairman and chief executive of land weapons maker Nexter Systems and will also be co-chairman of the joint venture with Krauss-Maffei Wegmann.

Mayer succeeds Philip Burtin, who served six years as Nexter chairman and helped set up the French-German joint venture.

The appointment will be effective Dec. 15, which will also mark the formal completion of the creation of the KMW and Nexter joint venture, a statement from the nations' defense, economy and finance ministers said.

The ministers welcomed the appointment of Mayer, which was decided by a Dec. 8 board meeting of state-owned Giat Industries, the statement said.

Mayer and Frank Haun, chairman of KMW, will be co-chairmen of the KMW-Nexter joint venture, intended as a big step in European consolidation of the arms industry.

""​Philippe Burtin wanted to bring forward his departure set by the statutory closing of his mandate at the end of 2016," the ministries said.

Website La Tribune reported that Burtin was leaving early because the government had not agreed with his insisting there be a guaranteed minimum five-year contract for the co-chairman of the joint venture, and there had been disagreement on the pace of integration on the joint venture.

Mayer was chief executive of the privately owned Daher group and head of its defense and aeronautics division. He had previously been chairman of the French-Italian ATR regional aircraft company and EADS Socata.

"He brings an acknowledged experience in industrial development, commercial performance — -- ​particularly in exports, and company management, which will allow Nexter to make a significant contribution to developing the company which will come out of the alliance," the ministers said.

The new company will be a 50-:​50 joint venture registered in Amsterdam, held by France and the Bode-Wegmann family. The co-chairmen will manage the businesses of KMW and Nexter, which between them report almost €2 billion ($2.2 billion) of annual sales and employ 6,000 staff members.

Burtin worked 15 years at Nexter, six of which as chairman, and built up the business to prepare the company for "this strategic European alliance," the ministers said.