Koelnmesse, organizer of more than 70 international trade fairs and over 2,000 conferences including imm cologne, The International Furnishing show (January 19th-25th, 2009) announced that Wolfgang Kranz (49) has resigned from his position as Executive Vice President of Koelnmesse. The reason cited for the move by both Kranz and Gerald Böse, CEO of the Koelnmesse Executive Board, was the two men's differing views regarding the company's future strategic orientation.

Wolfgang Kranz has left the company after working for it for almost 23 years. He has been a member of the Executive Board since 2001. In 2003 he was appointed Executive Vice President and given responsibility for the business units Furniture, Interior Design and Textiles, Technology and Environment, and Food.

The Supervisory Board and the Executive Board would like to cordially thank Mr. Kranz for his many years of successful activity on behalf of Koelnmesse. Koelnmesse CEO Gerald Böse will take over Mr. Kranz's responsibilities on the Executive Board with immediate effect.