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.

At contract closing, company founder Hans-Josef Orth said: “After 20
successful years at the head of Formel D, the time has come for Viola
Metzner and myself to place the company in competent hands in the
context of a future-oriented succession plan.” Viola Metzner said:
“Formel D has an experienced management team which is committed
to our values in terms of leadership and customer value added and
which will continue to develop the company on the basis of our
principles.”
On behalf of DBAG, Dr. Rolf Scheffels, member of the DBAG Executive
Committee, said: „Our aim is to support Formel D in extending its
outstanding market position as a technical service provider to the
automotive industry by innovative, high-quality services and in
continuing its rapid growth sustainably. We are pleased to be able to
ensure the succession of this successful family-owned company at
shareholder level and support its management during the coming
years.”
On behalf of the four-member management team, Maurizio Carroccia
said: “The life achievement of Viola Metzner and Hans-Josef Orth
represents both an obligation and a powerful motivation for my
colleagues and myself. Formel D is so strongly positioned in our market
segments today that we can now embark on a course of further growth
and drive the international expansion of our company forward on that
foundation. Our business requires continuous entrepreneurial decisions
which we want to implement with the support of DBAG based on a
shared understanding of our long-term development strategy. At the
same time, we appreciate very much that our company founders will
continue to support us in an advisory capacity. This constellation
guarantees optimal continuity both for our customers and our
employees.”
Payroll of 2,500 worldwide – Focus on quality
Formel D (www.formeld.com) was founded in 1993 and provides its
services to renowned automotive manufacturers and suppliers along the
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entire product creation chain: from development through production to
aftersales. The company advises automotive manufacturers and
suppliers, delivers customised services and supplies its customers with
both human resources and comprehensive technical solutions. Formel D
concentrates on services focused on the theme of quality. In 2012,
Formel D reported sales of some 130 million Euros. The company
currently employs 2,500 people, of which more than half in Germany.
The company’s head office is located in Troisdorf (North-Rhine
Westphalia).
Three main business divisions – More than 60 locations
Formel D generates the largest share of its sales with the activities of its
business division “QUALIFYing”, i.e. with services that optimise the
quality of products and processes along the entire supply chain in the
automotive industry. A typical service, for example, is the Quality
Confirmation Center (QCC) which provides the quality assurance for
production lines. In this segment, Formel D was distinguished by the
business publisher Deutsche Standards as a global market leader and
included in its lexicon of German global market leaders (“Lexikon der
Deutschen Weltmarktführer”, Eds. Florian Langenscheidt/Bernd Venohr).
The second-largest business field (“CARing”) provides assembly
services on finished production cars in the context of refitting and aftermarket
equipment and for the construction and conversion of special and
test vehicles. The roots of the company lie in the third main business
field, technical documentation (“FLOWing”). This includes operating
manuals and the literature used in repair shops for the inspection of
vehicles as well as the entire warranty management. With its service
range, Formel D accurately addresses the need of the automotive
industry to improve quality and productivity in the context of increasing
vehicle complexity, rising model variant numbers and shorter product
lifecycles.
Formel D provides its services in geographical proximity to the
respective automotive manufacturer locations. Formel D currently
operates in 64 sites, of which 21 are located in Germany. The first
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European branch was already established within one year of the
company’s foundation; the first non-European site followed two years
later. Today, Formel D is present worldwide near its customers, above
all in the growth markets USA, Brazil, Russia, India and China.
About DBAG
Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (DBAG) is a leading German private equity
company. It invests in successful companies which occupy an
outstanding position in their respective markets with their products and
services. DBAG has been a listed company since 1985 and invests
funds both from its own balance-sheet assets and from parallel funds.
DBAG currently has 1.3 billion EUR in assets under management.
Press Contact Formel D:
Marketing Manager
Katharina Breuer
Hunsrückstr. 1
53842 Troisdorf
katharina.breuer@formeld.com
+49 2241 996 222
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