DESMI Names Humphrey Lau CEO

Humphrey Lau has been named as CEO of DESMI, a Danish manufacturer of pumps, pumping systems, environmental cleaning equipment and related products within flow technology. He will succeed Henrik Sørensen, who has decided to step down on December 1, after more than 26 years as DESMI CEO.

Humphrey worked for 16 years with Novo Nordisk and Novozymes and 14 years with Grundfos where he most recently held the position of Group Senior Vice President, Global Industry Business. Among his global experience, he established Novo Nordisk in China from green field in 1994, at Novozymes he was in charge of several global business units and responsible for the biofuel’s development in 2005, and in various roles with Grundfos, including CEO of Grundfos China and Regional Managing Director of Western Europe Grundfos.

Sørensen, 65, has been CEO at DESMI since October 1, 1996, and a shareholder since 2003. “It has been an amazing journey leading this company for more than 26 years, and I am proud to hand over the keys to Humphrey as the company is in good shape and has considerable potential. I am looking forward to continuing this journey as a shareholder and member of the Board of Directors.”

“OEP is extremely pleased to partner with Humphrey as he is an experienced executive with an established reputation having served in leadership roles of two well-respected Danish multinationals. We also thank Henrik for his many years of service to DESMI and look forward to his important role on the Board and as a shareholder,” said Marc Lindhorst, Principal at One Equity Partners, which entered into agreements to acquire a majority stake in DESMI earlier this year.

“I am super excited and humble about this opportunity to be able to work together with a world class team at DESMI. Over the years I have followed the impressive development of DESMI under the strong and competent leadership of Henrik Sørensen. Together with the high performing global organization and support from a very professional owner like OEP, I am confident we can further develop and take DESMI to new heights,” said Humphrey Lau.