The designated chief executive of German conglomerate Haniel, Jürgen Kluge, will also take over as chairman of Metro Group’s supervisory board in 2010.

Kluge will be appointed as Haniel chief executive in January and then in a few months to the position at Metro, Haniel’s most important holding.

The reshuffle is understood to reduce the power of Metro Group chief executive Eckhard Cordes. Cordes, who was chief executive at Haniel, took over the leadership of Metro after the conglomerate raised its stake in the retailer to 34%. However, Cordes will step down from Haniel role by the end of year in order to concentrate his efforts on Metro.