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Bergisch Gladbach, 7 July 2023

INDUS sells company from discontinued operations as planned

- Contract on sale of SCHÄFER Group signed
- Further measures from ‘PARKOUR perform’ strategy update implemented

Stock exchange listed INDUS Holding AG will transfer 100% of the shares in SCHÄFER Group to an investment vehicle of Callista Portfolio Holding GmbH, Munich. At four locations in Germany and China, the SCHÄFER Group produces complex, high-precision models and test gauges, particularly for the automotive and aviation industries, with over 170 employees. In 2022, the company generated annual sales of a good EUR 16 million. The Group comprises SCHÄFER GmbH & Co. KG headquartered in Osnabrück, D.M.S. GmbH Design Modell-Studien headquartered in Munich, KSG Asia Limited, Hong Kong, as well as shares in KSG Automotive Shanghai. The parties agreed not to disclose the details of the contract.

“With the ‘PARKOUR perform’ strategy update, we are focusing on our strength, which is highly specialized industrial technology,” said Dr. Johannes Schmidt, Chairman of the Board of Management of INDUS Group. “Focusing primarily on the automotive industry, SCHÄFER no longer fits into our strategic positioning.”

As a result of the Board’s decision to discontinue the former Automotive Technology segment, SCHÄFER Group had been reclassified as discontinued operations already in the 2022 financial statements. The sale of SCHÄFER Group will result in the entity’s deconsolidation in the third quarter of 2023. The transaction has only minor impact on the balance sheet, which will be recognized in the second quarter.

Callista Group specializes in the acquisition of industrial enterprises with potential for development. “As an investor, Callista offers SCHÄFER Group a growth perspective with the aim of increasing the company’s value in the long term and seizing opportunities, particularly in the luxury goods segment. In exploiting this potential, the Group’s companies are to remain essentially unchanged at their current locations,” said Dr. Johannes Schmidt. INDUS plans to sell the last remaining company of the discontinued operations, SELZER Group, by the end of 2023. “We have managed to transfer SCHÄFER Group to a new owner swiftly as planned. We are optimistic that we will be able to close the sale of automotive supplier SELZER in an equally timely manner,” Schmidt added.

Axel Meyer

COO Engineering
Axel Meyer (German citizen, born 1968) has been a member of the INDUS Board of Management since October 2017.

Until joining INDUS, he held various management positions at Schuler AG, most recently as Managing Director of Schuler Pressen and Head of the Service Division of the Schuler Group, Goeppingen, Germany.

Previously, Axel Meyer worked as a member of the Board of Management of the international management consultancy IMAGIN Prof. Bochmann AG, Eppstein im Taunus, Germany. He started his professional career in the Schuler Group's Solid Forming Division, initially in global sales and later as Division Manager.

Axel Meyer studied industrial engineering in Germany and the USA and earned a Master of Mergers & Acquisitions (LL.M.) at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management while working. 

Gudrun Degenhart

COO Materials Solutions
Gudrun Degenhart (German citizen, born 1970) has been a member of the Board of Management of INDUS since October 2023.

She has more than 20 years of experience in the management and development of portfolio companies in Europe, USA and the Asia-Pacific regions.

Before joining INDUS, Gudrun Degenhart was CEO for the German portfolio companies of the international service group ISS. She previously worked for the thyssenkrupp Group, including as CEO of the international business unit for special lifts and as CEO of Materials Western Europe and Asia-Pacific. She gained experience in medium-sized companies as a board member of the construction technology company Schöck.

A graduate in business administration, she began her career by building up the Central and Eastern European activities of the construction specialist Lindner Group. 

Dr. Jörn Großmann

COO Infrastructure
Dr. Jörn Großmann (German citizen, born 1968) has been a member of the INDUS Board of Management since January 2019.

Up until joining INDUS, he worked for the Dutch group Aalberts Industries, with his last position being the sole managing director of Impreglon, Lüneburg, Germany.

He previously held various positions at the Georgsmarienhütte Group, initially becoming managing director of Mannstaedt, Troisdorf, Germany and later managing director of GMH Edelstahl Service Center Burg and GMH Engineering. Before Dr. Großmann became the managing director of Buderus Feinguss, Moers, Germany, he worked as a development engineer and as a technical director for Doncasters Precision Castings, Bochum, Germany.

He studied material sciences and earned a doctorate in the field of natural sciences.

Dr. -Ing. Johannes Schmidt

CEO
Dr. -Ing. Johannes Schmidt (German citizen, born 1961) has been a member of the Board of Management of INDUS since January 2006. He has assumed the position of CEO since July 2018.

Dr. -Ing. Schmidt was previously the sole managing director of ebm-papst Landshut, Germany, a manufacturer of ventilation motors and fans. During his tenure there, his main achievements included advancing the development of new product platforms and the internationalization of production sites.

Dr. -Ing. Schmidt began his career at Richard Bergner, a manufacturer of electrical instruments from Schwabach, Germany. He initially led product development before rising to the position of managing director during his 12 years at the company.

Schmidt, who studied mathematics, gained an engineering doctorate in mechanics from the Technical University of Darmstadt. 

Rudolf Weichert

CFO
Rudolf Weichert (German citizen, born 1963) is the CFO of INDUS.

Before joining the INDUS Board of Management in June 2012, he was a Partner at KPMG for nine years. He spent three of these years in Detroit, Michigan, United States, where he worked mainly with companies in the engineering, and materials trading industries.

Mr. Weichert, who holds a masters degree in business administration, worked for KPMG for about 20 years, primarily in the firm’s Duesseldorf office, where he worked mainly with multinational manufacturing corporations.