Switzerland's Oerlikon names Michael Buscher CEO

Switzerland's Oerlikon said Michael Buscher would step in to run the struggling technology group, taking over from current Chief Executive Hans Ziegler. The debt-laden group, in which Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg holds a controlling stake, has been looking for a permanent head since appointing turnaround-expert Ziegler on an interim basis last August after a string of disappointing results. Buscher, a German citizen who has lived in Switzerland since 2003, will join the group in May, Oerlikon said in a statement on Wednesday. "The nomination of Dr Buscher results from a final selection of various well qualified candidates, which were identified in a thorough search process by the board of directors beginning immediately after the nomination of Mr Ziegler as interim CEO," the group said. Oerlikon makes a range of products from coatings used in Formula One racing cars to machines used to make solar cells, and has been hit hard by the sharpest economic downturn in decades.