Posted to News on 29th Apr 2024, 13:00
Merger of Vitesco Technologies Group into Schaeffler gets green light
The Annual General Meeting of Schaeffler has approved the merger of Vitesco Technologies Group into Schaeffler. After Vitesco shareholders at their Annual General Meeting had already voted in favour of the merger agreement the day before, the Annual General Meeting of Schaeffler has also given the green light for the merger.
Klaus Rosenfeld, CEO of Schaeffler AG, said: "With the approval of the Annual General Meetings of Schaeffler and Vitesco we have fulfilled further important requirements to finalise the merger of the two companies. This marks the beginning of a new chapter in the corporate development of the Schaeffler Group. Together with Vitesco, we are creating the leading Motion Technology Company."
With the successful Annual General Meeting, Schaeffler has now completed the second step of the three-step overall transaction. The merger is still expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Integration preparations on track
The preparations for the integration of Vitesco into Schaeffler are already in full swing and are progressing according to plan. In his speech, CEO Klaus Rosenfeld reported to shareholders that an important milestone had been reached on March 14 of this year, with the establishment of the future organisational structure on the first level below the Board of Managing Directors and the Regional CEOs.
The next phase of the integration process will now focus on the second management level, the development of the divisional and functional strategies and structures, as well as a joint business plan. These steps are of crucial importance to optimally prepare Schaeffler for the year 2025, which is expected to be the first fully integrated financial year of the newly shaped group.
With regard to the business performance of the previous year, Schaeffler once again succeeded in growing despite a challenging environment, Klaus Rosenfeld reported at the Annual General Meeting. The Automotive Technologies division recorded an order intake of over five billion euros in the field of e-mobility in 2023. Increasing global demand for repairs, driven by a growing and ageing vehicle fleet, has been a key driver for the positive revenue and earnings development of the Automotive Aftermarket division. In addition, despite challenging market and competitive conditions, the industrial division achieved remarkable results in some areas in 2023.
At the end of the Annual General Meeting, Jurgen Wechsler resigned from the Supervisory Board. He will be replaced by Horst Ott, District Manager of the IG Metall union in Bavaria.
"I would like to thank Mr Wechsler for many years of work on the Supervisory Board and his valuable support as Deputy Chairman. As a member of the Supervisory Board from the very beginning, he has made a significant contribution to the relationship of trust with his objective way of working. We wish him good health and happiness for his well-deserved retirement," said Georg FW Schaeffler, family shareholder and Chairman of the Supervisory Board.
"The approval of the merger of Vitesco Technologies Group into Schaeffler AG at today's Annual General Meeting marks a milestone in our corporate history. Schaeffler is and will remain also in the future a family-owned company that is shaping the future sustainably, innovatively and with a pioneering spirit in the interests of all stakeholders."
