After 16 years of leading Rossignol Group, Bruno Cercley will hand over the CEO responsibility to Vincent Wauters, shown above, during the first quarter of 2021. Cercley will keep a non-executive role as president and member of the Board.
Cercley joined Rossignol in 2002 and left in 2005 after Quiksilver acquired the Group. In 2008 he led a consortium that acquired Rossignol from Quiksilver, and he took over as CEO upon completion of this transaction.
Under his leadership, Rossignol Group grew to become a major winter sports brand. Its portfolio includes Rossignol, Dynastar, Lange, and Look. After a restructuring in 2009, the brands have grown in market share and, in recent years, have had strong success across a range of ski disciplines. Rossignol also successfully launched an apparel collection and entered into the mountain bike market, under Cercley’s leadership.
Vincent Wauters will join Rossignol on December 1 2020 and continue its global development core business while leveraging soft goods and e-commerce growth opportunities. Wauters and Cercley will work together for a smooth transition of the CEO role during the first quarter of 2021.
Wauters is a seasoned outdoor industry leader who previously served as CEO of Hunter Boots, president of Arc’teryx and executive board member of Amer Sports Corporation in charge of the global operations and of the apparel and gear category. He has also held operational positions at Newell Rubbermaid and was one of the first employees of Amazon France.
Cercley said: “Looking at what we have accomplished over the last decade, I am very proud of having had the great privilege to lead the Group teams in this incredible venture. We have recovered our leading position on skis with Rossignol, doubled our boots market share, we have created a true, steadily growing, apparel business supported by a unique brand positioning, and we have become a major partner for mountain passionates in their quest for “Another Best Day” experiences, all year long. I am quite grateful to the teams who have worked so hard with me to make this happen. This is a good time for organizing ourselves to continue to develop our vision and implement it through solid action plans. Having Vincent joining the Group is a huge opportunity that we could not miss. I am very excited to work soon with him to ensure a smooth and efficient transition. I will obviously remain very much interested and involved from a more strategic perspective, as President & Board member.”
Wauters commented: “It is a great honor to join such an iconic, leading and authentic Outdoor group. What has been accomplished under Bruno’s leadership over the last several years is truly remarkable and I am looking forward to working with the team and our partners to enable a very exciting next strategic cycle.”
“It has been a privilege to work with Bruno over the last seven years. He has led a major transformation of the Group and is handing over a strong and well-performing company to Vincent. I think the heritage of the Rossignol brands and organization is in good hands with Vincent, who with his background from global iconic apparel and winter sports brands and his expertise across marketing, e-commerce and operations, brings new capabilities important to accelerate growth from our solid platform”, says Hugo Maurstad, chairman of the Board.
Rossignol, since 2013, is majority-owned by Nordic Private Equity fund Altor.
