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Michel Denis has been named as the new CEO of Daher.
LYON—French aerospace group Daher has appointed Michel Denis, a seasoned executive with experience in other sectors, as its new CEO to succeed Didier Kayat, who stepped down in March.
The move takes place as Daher has seen sustained growth in recent years, reaching €1.9 billion ($2.1 billion) of annual revenues. It is betting on further evolutions of its TBM and Kodiak turboprop singles, while counting on the production of aerostructures for Airbus' next-generation single-aisle. Daher is also active in manufacturing services and logistics.
The company's board of directors sees Denis, 61, working in tandem with Aymeric Daher, 42. Aymeric Daher will eventually become the group's CEO, according to financial daily La Tribune.
Denis' role as CEO will be effective July 1, the board of directors announced June 8. Until then, Chairman Thibault Scaramanga will continue to serve as interim CEO. He took on the position after former CEO Kayat left on March 31.
Denis currently serves as CEO of Manitou Group, a specialist in material handling and access platforms. Manitou's size—with €2.7 billion in annual revenues—and family-owned structure are similar to Daher's. Previously, Denis had operational leadership roles at Dalkia, and later at Johnson Controls. In 2003, he joined Fraikin Group, an expert in industrial vehicle leasing, where he became CEO.
“Michel Denis brings top-tier industrial expertise to Daher, both in leading corporate transformations and in managing the stakeholders of a family-owned business,” Scaramanga said. “Together with Aymeric Daher, whose knowledge of the aerospace ecosystem is unparalleled, they will form a complementary and ambitious leadership team.”
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