Schlüger Board Announces Search for New CEO, Shortlist Includes Current CEO

Comprehensive global search reflects Board's commitment to rigorous succession planning

NEW YORK, NY — April 21, 2026 — The Board of Directors of Schlüger, the global leader in synergistic business solutions, today announced the initiation of a formal search for the firm's next Chief Executive Officer. The search will be conducted in partnership with a leading executive recruitment firm and will consider a broad slate of internal and external candidates, including current Chief Executive Officer Peter Uberholf.

The announcement reflects what the Board described as a "renewed and deepened commitment to leadership continuity," and follows an extensive months-long review of the firm's long-term succession posture. The review, conducted by a specially convened subcommittee of the Board, concluded that Schlüger would benefit from a fresh perspective, a bold new direction, and, after careful consideration of all available options, Peter Uberholf.

"The Board is fully aligned on the importance of this process," said Lead Independent Director Margaret Thorne-Vance. "We owe it to our shareholders, our employees, and our broader stakeholder community to run a rigorous, exhaustive, and genuinely open search. And we are equally committed to ensuring that, at the conclusion of that search, we arrive at the right answer — which, based on our preliminary analysis, appears likely to be Peter."

The search will be led by Apex Harbor Partners, a global executive search firm retained by the Board following a competitive RFP process in which three firms were invited to bid and one responded. Apex Harbor will conduct a worldwide talent mapping exercise, benchmark Schlüger's leadership needs against industry peers, and compile a long list of approximately 150 candidates, which will then be narrowed to a shortlist of finalists. The Board confirmed that Uberholf's inclusion on the shortlist reflects the outcome of this process and not its starting point, a distinction the Board described as "important, and real."

Key parameters of the search were outlined in the Board's announcement:

• Ideal Candidate Profile — The next CEO will be a visionary, execution-oriented leader with deep experience scaling synergistic enterprises, a demonstrated commitment to stakeholder-centric governance, and, ideally, a last name that begins with "U."
• Geographic Scope — The search will be fully global, with particular emphasis on candidates residing within a fifteen-minute commute of Schlüger's current headquarters.
• Diversity of Thought — The Board is committed to considering candidates from a wide range of backgrounds, provided those backgrounds include prior service as CEO of Schlüger.
• Timeline — The Board anticipates concluding the search in a timely manner, currently projected as "shortly after it begins."

Uberholf, reached for comment at his office on the executive floor, welcomed the announcement. "I'm honored to be considered alongside what I'm sure will be an exceptional group of candidates," he said. "I look forward to making my case to the Board, which I have been doing continuously since 2009. I want to be clear: I did not ask to be on this shortlist. I was placed on it, following a process, and I intend to respect that process by participating in it fully."

Sources familiar with the matter indicated that Uberholf had recused himself from the Board's discussion of the shortlist, though he remained in the room in an observational capacity and was available to answer clarifying questions about himself. The Board confirmed that his input was "appropriately weighted."

Chief Culture Officer Zen Harmon noted that the announcement has been well received internally. "Our people want to know that leadership transitions, when they occur, will be handled with transparency and integrity," she said. "And I think what this announcement really communicates is that those transitions, if they were to occur, would be. That's a powerful signal."

To support the integrity of the process, the Board has established a Succession Oversight Working Group, chaired by a director hand-selected by Uberholf, who cited the director's independent judgment as the basis for the selection. The Working Group will meet quarterly, or as needed, which the Board has clarified is expected to be never.

The Board confirmed that if, at the conclusion of the search, a candidate other than Uberholf is identified as the optimal choice, the Board will give that candidate's profile "serious and genuine consideration" before proceeding with the appointment of Uberholf. In the event the external candidate proves to be exceptional, the Board has indicated it would be prepared to create a newly defined role for that individual, reporting to Uberholf.

Apex Harbor Partners declined to comment on the specifics of the engagement but confirmed that the search is active, ongoing, and "proceeding in accordance with the mandate."

The Board expects to provide a further update at the conclusion of Q3, at which point it anticipates announcing the successful reappointment of Peter Uberholf as CEO of Schlüger, following what it characterized as "a process we can all be proud of."

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