Arne Freundt, 39, has been appointed as regional general manager of Puma for Europe and the Eastern Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EEMEA) region, with immediate effect. He succeeds Martyn Bowen, a veteran of the company who has been with Puma for more than 20 years, holding various management positions. Bowen had been appointed to the post in 2015, adding the rest of Europe to his territory after taking care of Eastern Europe and the rest of the EEMEA region.
After working for a Siemens consultancy for six years, Freundt joined Puma in 2011 as head of global strategy, a position in which he was most notably in charge of the transformation of its European business. He was made responsible for the company's global retail and e-commerce operations in 2015. Freundt will continue to report to Puma's chief executive, Bjørn Gulden.
Bowen has agreed to help ensure a smooth transition for Freundt to his new role. In commenting on the group's results for the third quarter ended on Sept. 30, Gulden had noted that the European region had performed less well than others, but a spokesperson for the company said that Bowen's departure was not related to this or other corporate issues. A statement by the group clearly stated that Bowen had decided to leave the company to “pursue personal interests.”
Somewhat like Puma, Bowen is an unconventional character. While he is only 55 years old, he says he has decided to retire from the sporting goods sector because of his passion for athletics and the preservation of the environment in Africa.
A former track & field athlete, he managed to take the first spot in the 400m sprint at the Austrian Masters in St. Pölten last June, with a score of 60.75 seconds, in spite of a time-consuming work schedule.
A committed environmentalist, he also told his colleagues at Puma in the company's internal newsletter recently that his favorite pastime is spending time in the bush in Africa. He has been a strong supporter of REDD+, the international initiative for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, in which Puma has participated.
The British manager was brought up in Tanzania and Kenya. He then moved to England, where he studied Latin, Greek and philosophy at the University of Oxford. He started off at Puma in 1995 as an export manager, based in Austria. He continued to be based there until he moved to the company's head office in Germany in connection with his latest appointment.
