US industrial packaging business Greif has promoted deputy general counsel Dennis Hoffman to the GC role, replacing Gary Martz who is retiring at the end of next month.
Hoffman has been at Greif for more than 15 years, becoming deputy GC in 2019. He brings extensive experience across corporate law, governance, M&A, joint ventures and environmental compliance matters, working closely with Martz during that time. He becomes only its second GC in the company’s 148-year history.
Delaware-headquartered Greif makes industrial packaging such as steel, fibre and plastic drums, water bottles, containers and other packaging materials.
Ole Rosgaard, president and CEO of Greif, said: “Dennis is a trusted advisor with a strong business orientation and deep working knowledge of Greif. His leadership, judgement and values make him the right choice to guide our global legal, compliance and governance agenda.”
Hoffman originally joined the company in 2010 as assistant GC from Swiss building materials giant Holcim, where he was regional counsel. Prior to that he worked in private practice at BakerHostetler for close to a decade, including almost two years as a partner.
He said: “I’m honoured to serve Greif in this new capacity. Gary built a world-class legal organisation, and I look forward to working with Ole, our board of directors and our global colleagues to continue and build upon that work.”
Martz, meanwhile, is retiring in November after 23 years with the company, where he became its first in-house counsel in what at the time was the company’s 125-year history. Like Hoffman, Martz is a former BakerHostetler partner, having spent 11 years there before he joined Greif.
Martz said: “It has been a privilege to support Greif’s growth for more than two decades. Dennis is exceptionally well prepared to lead the legal team, and I’m confident in a smooth transition.”
In other recent industrial materials-related in-house moves, back in July US industrial gas company Air Products hired former BASF legal head Matthew Lepore as its new GC. And in April, Swedish engineering giant Sandvik said it was hiring Johanna Kreft from materials tech business Alleima as its next GC. She is due to take up her new role later this month.
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