The Board of Element Six SA, an independently managed joint venture between De Beers SA (majority shareholder) and Umicore SA, today announced that Christian Hultner, the CEO of Element Six, will leave the company on September 30th 2008 and has named Cyrus Jilla as the new CEO effective October 1st 2008. Christian Hultner will remain on the Element Six Board as a non-executive director.
Mr. Jonathan Oppenheimer, non-executive chairman in recognising Christian Hultner's substantial contribution to Element Six, over his eight years of service, said, "During Christian Hultner's tenure, he has led Element Six through a period of transformation, establishing the company as the undisputed market leader in supermaterials, outperforming all its peers, and creating a company with excellent long-term growth prospects."



Prior to joining Element Six, incoming CEO Cyrus Jilla has spent most of his career with Bain & Company, the global business consultants, most recently as Managing Partner of their London office. He is an acknowledged expert in strategy & company transformations and has strong mergers & acquisitions experience. Cyrus has advised De Beers and the Element Six management since 1999, and he has served as a non-executive director of Element Six since 2003. Previously, Cyrus worked for Schroders plc, the investment bank. Cyrus will also join the De Beers SA Executive Committee.

On Cyrus Jilla's appointment, Mr. Oppenheimer went on to say, "We are truly delighted that Cyrus has accepted the role as CEO of Element Six. With his service as a non-executive director, Cyrus already has an in-depth knowledge of the business. Cyrus brings extensive strategic and leadership capability that will be invaluable to Element Six in meeting the challenges of the future."

Mr. Jilla commented, "I am very excited about the future of Element Six and honoured to have the opportunity to lead such a successful business and talented management team. Element Six has highly dedicated people, close customer partnerships, world beating technology, and an excellent track record of growth. I look forward to continuing all our important relationships and to facilitate a seamless transition with Christian. Hopefully, we will continue to drive rapid growth from the strong foundations that Christian and the team have built."

Element Six is the world's leading supplier of high quality supermaterials used throughout manufacturing industry for a wide range of applications. It is the frontrunner in the development of synthetic diamond and novel engineering materials that are being used in industrial applications that span, for example optical, mechanical, thermal, electronic, automotive, telecommunications and medical industries. With a turnover of more than US$500m and almost 4,000 employees, Element Six has established production and processing plants in China, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, South Africa, Ukraine and the UK supported by a global distribution network.