Eric Alström has been appointed as group president and chief executive officer of Hempel, succeeding Michael Hansen who resigned and left Hempel in June 2026.
His appointment, effective August 1 2026, follows a period of interim leadership by executive vice president and chief financial officer Peter la Cour Gormsen and executive vice president and chief technology officer Emilie Barriau.
Eric brings more than three decades of international executive leadership experience in Europe, the USA, Japan and China across industrial technology, automotive and manufacturing.
He most recently served as president of Danfoss Power Solutions, where he led the organisation’s largest business segment with full global responsibility, strengthening its market position through profitable organic growth, acquisitions and a focus on customers and products.
He also previously served as vice chair of Hemel’s board of directors from 2017 to 2024.
International business leader
“On behalf of the board, I am very pleased to welcome Eric Alström as new group president and CEO of Hempel,” said Richard Sand, chair of the board of directors.
Eric is an experienced international business leader with a strong track record of driving growth, transformation and innovation in global industrial businesses.
“He also knows Hempel well through his previous service on our board, and we are very confident that he is the right person to lead Hempel through its extremely exciting next phase with full focus on strong growth and value creation.”
Eric added: “I am honoured to join Hempel as group president and CEO.
“Hempel is a distinctive and successful global leader with a strong heritage, trusted and long-standing customer relationships and clear ambitions for the future.”
And he said he looked forward to driving customer value through innovation, and achieving profitable growth at a higher pace than in the past.
Eric concluded: “Hempel has great people, and combined with our innovative products, we have the right ingredients to outpace the competition.”
