"We are most grateful to Jörg for having set up the global operations of epa early 2003 and for having developed the agency into a highly respected, truly global provider of visual news content. Today, epa is of outstanding importance to media companies around the globe - and very much so for its shareholding agencies", said Fernando Garea, Chairman of epa’s Supervisory Board and President and CEO of epa’s major shareholder Agencia EFE, after a General Assembly of epa shareholders in Amsterdam.

Upon the unanimous vote of the General Assembly of shareholders, Schierenbeck will be succeeded on March 1, 2020 as CEO of epa by Juan Varela, Chairman of epa's Supervisory Board until September 2019 and since then Senior Vice President of epa. Varela (55) has decades of experience in advising and managing media companies in Spain, Latin America and the USA, including several years as Director Business Development of Agencia EFE in Madrid and CEO of its wholly-owned subsidiary EFE News in New York.

"I am delighted to assume this outstanding position and to lead this excellent news agency," Varela said. "epa sets quality standards in photo and video while being substantially leaner than its global competitors."

epa's future management team under Varela will, among other experienced department heads, include Elio Schöfer (COO), Silke Pohlmann (Head of Human Resources), and Terri A. Love (CFO).

Schierenbeck thanked epa's shareholders, partners and clients as well as its employees and collaborators world-wide for many years of trust and support. "It is time for me to leave the business to my younger colleagues who are a highly experienced team of professionals. I wish them the best of luck, and I am very sure epa will have a great future under this new management," he added.

Jörg Schierenbeck will support the transition in his future role as Senior advisor.

For further information please contact: management@epa.eu

About epa
Since its start in 1985 the european pressphoto agency has always been based on integrity, independence and responsibility.

Today's epa news photo service is based both on the broad network of epa's staff photographers all over the world and on the daily production of its member agencies, which are all market leaders in their respective countries.

epa's images reflect a continual commitment to allocate a maximum of resources to creative, unique photography producing images that speak for themselves.

The international photo service of epa is used by diverse media as well as epa's partners and shareholders worldwide. The service is managed from epa's editorial headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, with regional editorial desks in Bangkok, Cairo and Washington, DC. From there, a timely selection of competitive images is delivered to clients all over the globe. At present the epa service offers about 2,000 new images on an average day whereas the epa archives contain over seven million images dating back to 1997.

(https://www.epa.eu)