BayWa, Catharina Desch becomes head of legal department

New head of legal department for BayWa, company operating in the energy, food, and construction sectors. The position has been filled within the organization with Catharina Desch (pictured), who’s been leading the corporate legal division of the company since mid-February. The 47-year-old has been with the company based in Munich for 13 years, being first a counsel and then, from 2013 to 2024, the deputy head of legal department. Previously, she worked as an associate in the Corporate Law and M&A practice groups at Hengeler Mueller.

Together with Desch, Thomas Böhne (47) has been appointed as deputy head of the legal department. He has also been with BayWa for over ten years. At the beginning of his career, he worked for Siemens.

Under the leadership of BayWa’s general counsel, David Merz (43), the company has restructured the Legal, Compliance, and Governance areas with the aim of integrating them more closely. One of the reasons for this is the increasing regulatory requirements, which, due to their complexity, require closer collaboration.

The 16-member legal department, led by Desch and Böhne, also aims to further advance the use of legal tech.