Dear Shareholders,
As Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board, I am contacting you personally today in advance of the Annual General Meeting to ask for your continued trust and support.
As you all know, in the challenging last few years, we have succeeded in maintaining stability in both the Supervisory Board and the Executive Board and in acquiring additional technical and commercial expertise in both bodies. The company’s strategic orientation towards the three main pillars of “Intelligent Building Technology,” “Critical Infrastructure” and “The Internet of Things” was pursued just as consistently. By initiating a noticeable portfolio streamlining and targeted restructuring measures, a solid basis for growth was created so that the financing of the company was not only secured, but also a new anchor and backstop investor was successfully gained in Funkwerk AG. Following the related capital increase, the respective funds are thus now available to make the necessary investments in the future. The expert and strategic complementarity of the new shareholder, who is a leading provider of innovative communication, information and security systems, is at least as valuable as the capital increase. In this respect, Funkwerk AG and Funkwerk AG can also develop holistic new solutions for our customers and achieve positive synergies in the markets.
In order to create the opportunity to staff the Supervisory Board in accordance with the new ownership structure in this promising initial situation, I have decided to resign from my Supervisory Board mandate, which was transferred to me for five years (until 2021) at the Annual General Meeting on July 28, 2016, prematurely at the end of the next Annual General Meeting. I have advised the new strategic anchor investor to take on the appropriate role on the Supervisory Board. Dr. Michael Radke, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Funkwerk AG and CEO of the Hörmann Group, has fortunately agreed to assume responsibility for the Supervisory Board in the future.
Accordingly, the Supervisory Board must be re-elected in its entirety at the Annual General Meeting on August 29, 2019, as the terms of office of the members Dr. Martina H. Sanfleber and Klaus Peter Frohmüller also expire on this date.
I would ask you to support my decision and strongly recommend that you elect Dr. Michael Radke to the Supervisory Board so that he can assume responsibility for the strategic direction there. The other candidates, Dr. Wolfram Römhild and Dr. Sanfleber, also enjoy my fullest confidence and, with their proven commercial background and broad market and industry experience, optimally complete the Supervisory Board’s competencies.
I am grateful that you have entrusted me with the supervision of your company in times of crisis, and I am proud to be able to pass on the control of the Supervisory Board at a time when the company is stabilized and prepared for the future.
My special thanks go to my two Supervisory Board colleagues, the Executive Board and the workforce of the euromicron Group for their trust, support and good cooperation.
I wish you all, your company and your current and future management continued peace, strength and determination for sustainable development – also and especially in these still exciting times of technical digitalization and economic disruption.
Kind regards,
Frankfurt/Main, July 19, 2019
Evelyne Freitag
Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board