Press release - formel d
Press release - formel d Press release - formel d
P R E S S R E L E A S E Future Oriented Succession Plan – Continuity for Customers and Employees – Opportunities for Growth on International Markets Reorganisation at Formel D: Founders transfer Managerial Direction to Management Team Troisdorf/Frankfurt am Main, 25 February 2013. The Formel D Group, a leading service provider to the automotive industry in the fields of quality management and assurance, vehicle refitting and after-market equipment as well as technical documentation has implemented its plans for continued future-oriented development of the company. Its present sole owners and founders, Viola Metzner and Hans-Josef Orth, have transferred all management functions to a four-member management team consisting of the longstanding Formel D executives Maurizio Carroccia, Dr. Holger Jené, Dr. Jürgen Laakmann and Carlos Vila. In the context of this reorganisation, Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (DBAG), a renowned financial investor headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, acquired a majority shareholding in Formel D. Decisive for this choice of investor were DBAG’s many years of experience in the automotive industry and the shared aim of providing sustained support for the growth and continued internationalisation of Formel D. Execution of the share transfer is currently still subject to approval by the competent antitrust authorities. The new shareholder constellation also ensures optimal continuity: The two company founders, Viola Metzner and Hans-Josef Orth, will remain Formel D shareholders, while the four-member management team has also acquired an interest in the company in the context of a management buy-out. Although the founders will retire from active management, they will support the management team in an advisory capacity in the further development of the company over the coming years.
- Page 2 and 3: At contract closing, company founde
- Page 4: European branch was already establi
P R E S S R E L E A S E<br />
Future Oriented Succession Plan – Continuity for Customers and<br />
Employees – Opportunities for Growth on International Markets<br />
Reorganisation at Formel D: Founders transfer<br />
Managerial Direction to Management Team<br />
Troisdorf/Frankfurt am Main, 25 February 2013. The Formel D<br />
Group, a leading service provider to the automotive industry in the<br />
fields of quality management and assurance, vehicle refitting and<br />
after-market equipment as well as technical documentation has<br />
implemented its plans for continued future-oriented development<br />
of the company. Its present sole owners and founders, Viola<br />
Metzner and Hans-Josef Orth, have transferred all management<br />
functions to a four-member management team consisting of the<br />
longstanding Formel D executives Maurizio Carroccia, Dr. Holger<br />
Jené, Dr. Jürgen Laakmann and Carlos Vila.<br />
In the context of this reorganisation, Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (DBAG),<br />
a renowned financial investor headquartered in Frankfurt am Main,<br />
acquired a majority shareholding in Formel D. Decisive for this choice of<br />
investor were DBAG’s many years of experience in the automotive<br />
industry and the shared aim of providing sustained support for the<br />
growth and continued internationalisation of Formel D. Execution of the<br />
share transfer is currently still subject to approval by the competent<br />
antitrust authorities.<br />
The new shareholder constellation also ensures optimal continuity: The<br />
two company founders, Viola Metzner and Hans-Josef Orth, will remain<br />
Formel D shareholders, while the four-member management team has<br />
also acquired an interest in the company in the context of a<br />
management buy-out. Although the founders will retire from active<br />
management, they will support the management team in an advisory<br />
capacity in the further development of the company over the coming<br />
years.
At contract closing, company founder Hans-Josef Orth said: “After 20<br />
successful years at the head of Formel D, the time has come for Viola<br />
Metzner and myself to place the company in competent hands in the<br />
context of a future-oriented succession plan.” Viola Metzner said:<br />
“Formel D has an experienced management team which is committed<br />
to our values in terms of leadership and customer value added and<br />
which will continue to develop the company on the basis of our<br />
principles.”<br />
On behalf of DBAG, Dr. Rolf Scheffels, member of the DBAG Executive<br />
Committee, said: „Our aim is to support Formel D in extending its<br />
outstanding market position as a technical service provider to the<br />
automotive industry by innovative, high-quality services and in<br />
continuing its rapid growth sustainably. We are pleased to be able to<br />
ensure the succession of this successful family-owned company at<br />
shareholder level and support its management during the coming<br />
years.”<br />
On behalf of the four-member management team, Maurizio Carroccia<br />
said: “The life achievement of Viola Metzner and Hans-Josef Orth<br />
represents both an obligation and a powerful motivation for my<br />
colleagues and myself. Formel D is so strongly positioned in our market<br />
segments today that we can now embark on a course of further growth<br />
and drive the international expansion of our company forward on that<br />
foundation. Our business requires continuous entrepreneurial decisions<br />
which we want to implement with the support of DBAG based on a<br />
shared understanding of our long-term development strategy. At the<br />
same time, we appreciate very much that our company founders will<br />
continue to support us in an advisory capacity. This constellation<br />
guarantees optimal continuity both for our customers and our<br />
employees.”<br />
Payroll of 2,500 worldwide – Focus on quality<br />
Formel D (www.<strong>formel</strong>d.com) was founded in 1993 and provides its<br />
services to renowned automotive manufacturers and suppliers along the<br />
Seite 2 von 4
entire product creation chain: from development through production to<br />
aftersales. The company advises automotive manufacturers and<br />
suppliers, delivers customised services and supplies its customers with<br />
both human resources and comprehensive technical solutions. Formel D<br />
concentrates on services focused on the theme of quality. In 2012,<br />
Formel D reported sales of some 130 million Euros. The company<br />
currently employs 2,500 people, of which more than half in Germany.<br />
The company’s head office is located in Troisdorf (North-Rhine<br />
Westphalia).<br />
Three main business divisions – More than 60 locations<br />
Formel D generates the largest share of its sales with the activities of its<br />
business division “QUALIFYing”, i.e. with services that optimise the<br />
quality of products and processes along the entire supply chain in the<br />
automotive industry. A typical service, for example, is the Quality<br />
Confirmation Center (QCC) which provides the quality assurance for<br />
production lines. In this segment, Formel D was distinguished by the<br />
business publisher Deutsche Standards as a global market leader and<br />
included in its lexicon of German global market leaders (“Lexikon der<br />
Deutschen Weltmarktführer”, Eds. Florian Langenscheidt/Bernd Venohr).<br />
The second-largest business field (“CARing”) provides assembly<br />
services on finished production cars in the context of refitting and aftermarket<br />
equipment and for the construction and conversion of special and<br />
test vehicles. The roots of the company lie in the third main business<br />
field, technical documentation (“FLOWing”). This includes operating<br />
manuals and the literature used in repair shops for the inspection of<br />
vehicles as well as the entire warranty management. With its service<br />
range, Formel D accurately addresses the need of the automotive<br />
industry to improve quality and productivity in the context of increasing<br />
vehicle complexity, rising model variant numbers and shorter product<br />
lifecycles.<br />
Formel D provides its services in geographical proximity to the<br />
respective automotive manufacturer locations. Formel D currently<br />
operates in 64 sites, of which 21 are located in Germany. The first<br />
Seite 3 von 4
European branch was already established within one year of the<br />
company’s foundation; the first non-European site followed two years<br />
later. Today, Formel D is present worldwide near its customers, above<br />
all in the growth markets USA, Brazil, Russia, India and China.<br />
About DBAG<br />
Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (DBAG) is a leading German private equity<br />
company. It invests in successful companies which occupy an<br />
outstanding position in their respective markets with their products and<br />
services. DBAG has been a listed company since 1985 and invests<br />
funds both from its own balance-sheet assets and from parallel funds.<br />
DBAG currently has 1.3 billion EUR in assets under management.<br />
<strong>Press</strong> Contact Formel D:<br />
Marketing Manager<br />
Katharina Breuer<br />
Hunsrückstr. 1<br />
53842 Troisdorf<br />
katharina.breuer@<strong>formel</strong>d.com<br />
+49 2241 996 222<br />
Seite 4 von 4