After 14 years, REO Veiling has let its general manager, Paul Demyttenaere, go. This Belgian cooperative's members learned of this on Wednesday via a communiqué. When asked why, REO President Rita Demaré said Demyttenaere no longer suited the role of general manager as needed in 2022. "That's all I want to say about it," she says.
Rita pointed out that this event is not linked to REO Veiling's ongoing merger discussions with Coöperatie Hoogstraten. "We'd scheduled a joint management meeting with Hoogstraten on Thursday, which and we deliberately went ahead with it. We're sure this merger will add value."
According to her, the merger talks are processing well. "We're looking into all kinds of official matters, like competition, for example, which takes a lot of time, but must be done," Rita explains. "We want both cooperatives' members to vote whether they agree with the merger in December. That's around the corner."
REO's management team will, temporarily, take over the work. "Because of the merger process, we're not presently looking for a new general manager. That would only be an issue if people disagreed with the merger at one of the general meetings. However, so far, I'm very positive about that," Rita concludes.