Several hundred guests from the worlds of politics, business, culture and art gathered at the Alte Kongresshalle in Munich on March 16. This is where the Chinaforum Bayern had once again invited guests to its tried and tested Bavarian-Chinese Spring Festival. Bavarian shoemaking and beer stein wrestling, traditional fan painting and modern Chinese art, soccer artistry and a capella singing – this colorful mix formed the evening’s supporting and entertainment program. But there was also an exciting discussion. Under the motto “New friends? Chinese company takeovers in Germany”, the audience was given an insight into practical experiences with investments from the Middle Kingdom.
In their keynote speech, Oliver Neubrand, CFO of Ledvance, and Lawrence Lin, General Manager at MLS, reported on the takeover of the Osram subsidiary completed in early March by a consortium that includes the Chinese market leader in the lighting sector as well as private equity investor IDG Capital and the Yiwu sovereign wealth fund. Both managers recognize great synergy potential in the respective product portfolio and the market positioning of the partner. “We realized very quickly that this would be a very good fit, also on a human level,” says Oliver Neubrand. With the merger, the new partners believe they are well equipped for the major shift in the lighting industry away from traditional light sources towards LED products and networked solutions – the keyword being smart home.
In the subsequent panel discussion, Lin and Neubrand were joined by change management consultant Veronika Frankenberger, Dr. Markus Wittmann, Ministerial Director at the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, and Hubert Becker, Chairman of the Management Board of Waldrich Coburg. The Upper Franconian machine tool manufacturer was taken over by the state-owned company Beijing No. 1 back in 2005. “The best thing that could have happened to us,” says Becker, summarizing his many years of experience with the Chinese investor. In the years before the takeover by one of China’s oldest state-owned machine manufacturers, Waldrich Coburg had to go through a number of ups and downs under the changing ownership of American and German private equity investors. Becker is more than satisfied with the current situation. With the owner Beijing No.1, Waldrich Coburg has a competent partner at its side. “We can continue to run our business as a traditional German mechanical engineering company should.”
