Mr Mittelbach, who had been CEO of IFRA prior to the July 2009 merger, transformed IFRA from a print-centric organisation to one focused on multimedia and media convergence. He greatly expanded IFRA’s research activities on the future of the news business.

"Reiner has provided exceptional service to the newspaper industry," said Gavin O’Reilly, President of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA). "His contributions to the merger between IFRA and WAN helped set the direction of the new organisation, to the benefit of the entire industry. We wish him well in his future endeavours."

Mr Mittelbach took over the helm at the IFRA headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany, in 2001 as well as the network of IFRA affiliates and representations that has been built up worldwide in recent years.

He began his career in 1986 with Unilever in their packaging group 4P. After several positions in sales and marketing, he joined another packaging company called Menshen GmbH & Co KG in 1994 as their marketing and sales director.

Two years later, he became involved with the graphic arts industry for the first time by joining Polar-Mohr, the manufacturer of cutting systems, as their sales director for a brief period before becoming their marketing and sales director.

Two and a half years later, he moved to Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG, where he held the position of Speedmaster sales director for Europe and North America for one year before he joined the management team of Heidelberg’s business unit Finishing as senior vice president marketing.

WAN-IFRA, based in Paris, France, and Darmstadt, Germany, with subsidiaries in Singapore, India, Spain, France and Sweden, is the global organisation of the world’s newspapers and news publishers. It represents more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries.

Learn more about WAN-IFRA at www.wan-ifra.org or through the WAN-IFRA Magazine.

Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, WAN-IFRA, 7 rue Geoffroy St Hilaire, 75005 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: larry.kilman@wan-ifra.org.