(Ann Arbor, MI/Frankfurt, 17 February 2004) -  Effective immediately, Dr. Helmut Schmidt has been named Chief Executive Officer for Flint-Schmidt GmbH & Co. KG. Previously COO, he succeeds Jim Mahony, CEO and former President of Flint Ink Europe, who will be leaving the company effective June 30. The former position of COO will not be filled. Schmidt, 45, is a member of the fourth generation of the Schmidt family, which founded Druckfarbenfabrik Gebrüder Schmidt GmbH in 1878. He holds degrees in business science and received his PhD from the University of Munich in 1987. He joined Gebr. Schmidt in Frankfurt in 1989 following two years with McKinsey and Company in Munich. At Gebr. Schmidt, Helmut Schmidt served as Head of Control and Finance and Deputy General Manager until 1995 when he was named Managing Director. With the merger of Flint Ink Europe and Druckfarbenfabrik Gebr. Schmidt in 2002, he was named President and COO of Flint-Schmidt. Working together for the past two years, Schmidt and Mahony have successfully integrated the two European organizations into a unified company. Schmidt will continue to shape the strategic direction of the Flint-Schmidt group. He notes: “As a leading supplier of printing inks in Europe the brand of Flint-Schmidt stands for customer focus, flexibility and entrepreneurship. Sustained profitable growth of all company divisions will be the essential part of my leadership role.”  Apart from his company duties, Schmidt has been engaged in various industry organizations for several years. He is a board member of both VdD (German printing inks association) and VDMI (association of mineral colours manufacturers). In addition, he is a member of the POG committee in CEPE (European Council of the Paint & Printing Ink Industry).