PFNonwovens Holding has appointed Cedric Ballay as the PFN Group’s new Chief Executive Officer. The appointment is the result of a long-planned succession process at the helm of the Prague, Czech Republic-headquartered group.


Ballay joins PFN from Berry Global Group, Inc. where he served as executive vice president and general manager for the health, hygiene and specialties division in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India (EMEIA). He joined Avintiv, a Berry Global acquisition, in July 2013 as its vice president for sales and product development EMEIA after spending 16 years with General Electric, progressing through leadership roles in Information Technologies, Lean 6 Sigma, Commercial and General Management.


Ballay is a board member of the European Disposables and Nonwovens Association (EDANA) and holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from ESADE (Escola Superior d’Administració i Direcció d’Empreses) in Barcelona, Spain, and a Master’s degree in Electronics and Telecommunications from the Grenoble Institute of Technology in Grenoble, France.


”I am excited to be joining PFN, a recognized leader in the space of nonwovens. I believe the company has a great business model, strong partners, and a talented management team which uniquely positions PFN for growth. The team and I look forward to leading it into its next chapter!“ said Mr. Ballay.


Ballay will assume the CEO position from September 2020. He will take over from Allen Bodford, who has led the PFN group since the acquisition of First Quality Nonwovens in 2018. Mr. Bodford will step down from all executive and statutory positions he holds in the PFN group and will become a non-executive member of the PFN Holding Board of Directors.


Michal Smrek, CEO at R2G, says, “Allen Bodford has done an exceptional job as the PFN group’s first CEO. In the two years that he has led the group, he has managed to implement a client-focused ‘one company’ culture and his leadership during the integration process has established PFN as one of the global market leaders in the nonwovens segment. We are glad that Allen will continue to support the PFN group in his non-executive role.”


Ballay’s appointment concludes the transition and succession of the senior management team at PFN. Following the 2018 acquisition of First Quality Nonwovens, the senior team was also strengthened by Tonny de Beer who succeeded František Klaška as Chief Technical Officer, and by Shane Vincent, appointed to the position of Global Business Development Officer.