Eric Alström named new Hempel group president and CEO

Eric Alström

Copenhagen-headquartered paints and coatings specialist Hempel A/S has named Eric Alström its new group president and CEO, effective August 1.

He succeeds Michael Hansen, who resigned and left Hempel in June 2026, and joins the company following a period of interim leadership by Peter la Cour Gormsen, executive VP and CFO, and Emilie Barriau, EVP and chief technology officer.

Alström previously served as vice chair of Hempel’s board of directors from 2017 to 2024 and comes to the company with more than 30 years of international executive leadership experience in Europe, the U.S., Japan and China and most recently served as president of Danfoss Power Solutions. He holds a master’s degree in management from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

“I am very pleased to welcome Eric Alström as new group president & CEO of Hempel,” said board chairman Richard Sand. “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.”

“I am honored to join Hempel as group president & CEO,” said Alström. ‘Hempel is a distinctive and successful global leader with a strong heritage, trusted and long-standing customer relationships and clear ambitions for the future. Having followed the company closely, I know it stands on a strong foundation, and I look forward to working with the board of directors and Hempel colleagues across the world to build on that strength, driving customer value through innovation, thus ensuring profitable growth at an even higher pace than in the past. Hempel has great people, and combined with our innovative products, we have the right ingredients to outpace the competition.”